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Garcinia mangostana
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Family:
CLUSIACEAE/GUTTIFERAE
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Citation: Garcinia mangostana L., Sp. Pl. 443. 1753; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 260. 1874; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 73(52). 1915; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 80. 1984; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 72. 1989; N.P. Singh in B.D. Sharma & Sanjappa, Fl. India 3: 148. 1993; Sasidh., Fl. Shenduruny WLS 31. 1997; W. Arisdason & P. Daniel in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 346. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 111. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 138. 2009.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Mangosta, Mangustan
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Mangosta, Mangustan, Mangosteen
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Description:
Evergreen trees, to 20 m high, bark black or dark brown, smooth; exudation yellow, sticky; branchlets decussate, stout, cylindric, slightly grooved, glabrous. Leaves simple, opposite, decussate, estipulate; petiole 20-25 mm long, stout, glabrous, slightly grooved above, ligulate projections at base prominent, clasping the branches; lamina 8-25 x 4-12 cm, elliptic to elliptic-oblong or ovate-oblong, base acute, obtuse or rotund, apex acute or shortly acuminate, margin entire, often slightly revolute, glabrous, thickly coriaceous, glossy; lateral nerves numerous, parallel, close, slender, prominent, looped near the margin forming intramarginal nerve, intercostae reticulate, obscure. Flowers polygamodioecious; male flowers : pale green, to 4 cm across, 3-9 in terminal fascicles; pedicels 1.5-2 cm long; bracts orbicular, concave, scarious; sepals 4, erect, unequal, coriaceous, concave; petals 4, larger than sepals, ovate, fleshy, yellow-red inside, green red outside; stamens numerous, inserted on 4 thick, receptacular lobes below the rudimentary pistil; filaments short; anthers ovate-oblong, recurved; rudimentary pistil discoid, fleshy, red, apex conical, as long as stamens; bisexual flowers: 1-2 at the apices of branchlets, purple; pedicel 1.8-2 cm long, stout, woody; sepals 4, rarely 5, decussate, orbicular, concave, thick, persistent, outer pair shorter than inner; petals 4, purple, upto 3 cm long, orbicular, concave, thick, fleshy; stamens many, 1-2 seriate; filaments 4-5 mm long, slender, connate at base; anthers ovate-oblong, apex recurved; ovary superior, globose, smooth, 5-8-locular; ovules solitary, ascending; stigmas sessile, punctate, 5-8 lobed, lobes cuneiform. Fruit a berry; 5-7 cm across, glossy purplish-black, smooth, surrounded at base by sepals, apex crowned by 5-8 lobed stigma; pericarp thick, spongy, reddish, with yellow latex; seeds upto 8, oblong, 1-2 cm long, laterally compressed; aril opaque, very pleasant, juicy, thick, white.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
Throughout the year
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Cultivated
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Distribution:
Native of Malaysia, widely cultivated in Tropical Asia
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Green, Yellow
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
Yes
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
Yes
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Dharppakulam
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