Abstract: Effects of liquid endosperm on fruit growth, abscission and size were conducted using normal-seeded cultivar‘Baila’ litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn. ) as a material by puncturing with and without extraction of liquid endosperm within a seed. The results showed that treatments of puncturing with and without abstraction of liquid endosperm obviously increased fruit abscission 〔the cumulative abscission rate (CAR) treated at the 30th and 36th days after anthesiswas 93.3% and 73.3% - 80% respectively, while CAR of the control was lower than 10%〕and depressed fruit growth, and these negative effects were aggravated by earlier
treatments. Puncturing plus extraction of liquid endosperm treatment induced aborted-seeded small-fruit and
puncturing without extraction of liquid endosperm treatment gave rise to small-seeded small-fruit, while the control produced normal-seeded larger-fruit. It implies that the development of seedcoat and endosperm have
more important effects on fruit set and the development of seed and fruit. Moreover, the results provided the
direct experimental evidence for substantiating the ‘ball-skin versus bladder effect’ notionin during litchi fruit development, in which effects of seedcoat→pericarp→aril in order existed inside a litchi fruit tissue.

Key words: Litchi, Litchi chinensis Sonn., Liquid endosperm, Fruit abscission, Fruit growth