Garcinia

Description

Garcinia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Clusiaceae native to Asia, America, Australia, tropical and southern Africa, and Polynesia. The number of species is disputed; the Kew Gardens recognise up to 400. Commonly, the plants in this genus are called saptrees, mangosteens (which may also refer specifically to Garcinia mangostana), garcinias, or monkey fruit.Many species are threatened by habitat destruction, and at least one species, G. cadelliana, from South Andaman Island, is almost or even completely extinct already. The fruits are a food source for several animals, such as the archduke butterflies (Lexias spp.) of tropical eastern Asia which relish the sap of overripe mangosteens. The genus is named after French botanist Laurent Garcin (1683–1751). Garcinia species are evergreen trees and shrubs, dioecious and in several cases apomictic. The fruit is a berry with fleshy endocarp,which in several species is delicious. Among neotropical Garcinia several species are dioecious (G. leptophylla, G. macrophylla and G. magnifolia), although female trees have often been observed to have some degree of self-fertility. The fruit of most species of Garcinia are eaten locally; some species' fruits are highly esteemed in one region, but unknown just a few hundred kilometres away. The best-known species is Garcinia mangostana, which is now cultivated throughout Southeast Asia and other tropical countries, having become established in the late 20th century. Less well-known, but still of international importance, are kandis (G. forbesii) with small round red fruits with subacid taste and melting flesh, the lemon drop mangosteen (G. intermedia) with yellow fruit that look like a wrinkled lemon, and the thin-skinned orange button mangosteen (G. prainiana).