Scientists track down the history of the beloved lychee plant

South China Morning Post featured Victor Albert in a report on a new study that found lychees have been grown in China since ancient times, with records of their cultivation dating back to 2,000 years ago. Albert is a senior co-author on the study, which found a key gene that is responsible for the difference in flowering times for two varieties of the fruit. “Like a puzzle, we are piecing together the history of what humans did with lychee,” he said.