Rambutan is a tree that is native to Southeast Asia and bears bright red, or sometimes yellow, edible fruit. The fruit is covered in hairlike parts or soft spines 2/5 inch (1 centimeter) or more in length. The name rambutan comes from the Malay word rambut, meaning hair. The fruits are about 11/2 inches (4 centimeters) across. Some varieties taste sweet and sour.
Rambutan trees are bushy and grow up to 65 feet (20 meters) high. They have evergreen leaves between 6 and 15 inches (15 and 40 centimeters) long, divided into 3 to 8 leaflets.
Rambutan grows throughout the lowlands of Malaysia. It is rarely successful outside this area. A tree is either male or female and bears either all male or all female flowers. For this reason, rambutan is said to be dioecious. Only the female trees bear fruit.
