The edible portion of lychee is a fruit with a tough skin. This has caused some confusion as lychee are sometimes called nuts (for example, litchi nut using the French or Latin word for lychee). However, the seeds of lychee are inedible http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/lychee.html. Thus although lychee is distantly related to cashew, the allergenic properties may be different as fruits and nuts generally contain different allergens (cf. almond and cherry).