Garcinia xanthochymus Hook. f.

Garcinia species are evergreen trees or shrubs, wood moderately hard, bark grey, reddish or pale gray, branches often opposite, terete, glabrous, latex usually resinous, thick, yellow in bark, branches and fruits, but sometimes cream white. Leaves simple, opposite or rarely ternate, lanceolate-ovate to oblong-oblong, base acute to obtuse, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, chartaceous, leathery, coriaceous, glabrous on both sides, with translucent glands, midrib impressed above and prominent beneath, lateral veins irregular with parallel short veins between, veinlets reticulate, petiole slender with raised margins, exstipulate, rarely stipulate. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, in cymes, fascicles, solitary or paired. Flowers 4-5 merous, heterochlamydeous, dioecious, pseudobisexual and female ones, always less, pedicel short or sessile, sepals 4 or 5-6, imbricate, decussate in pairs, or usually persistent in fruit, petals 4, rarely 5, imbricate or contorted, alternating with sepals. Male flowers: Stamens numerous, rarely few, obscurely fascicled with 1-5 bundles, lobed mass often around a rudimentary pistil, free or connate at the base, filaments short or absent, anthers erect or peltate, 2 loculed or rarely 4, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Female flowers: often solitary, bigger than male flowers, with minute free or united staminodes, filaments arranged in ring shape, ovary superior, globose, 2-12 locular, ovules lateral or erect, anatropus, style short or absent, stigma peltate, smooth or papillate. Fruit fleshy berry, sulcate or smooth, encased by persistent sepals. Seeds 1-12, oblong ovoid, covered with juicy cream white pulp.

Tree

Flowering season is March-May and fruiting in Octboer-February

Garcinia species flowers are dioecious with separate male and female plants, pseudobisexual, i.e., with functional male (androecium) and female (gynoecium), or sometimes monoecious i.e. both male and female plants on the same plant. Pollination is entomophilous i.e., by insects, or cleistogamy i.e., by self or allogamy i.e., by cross pollination. Flowering/Fruiting: Throughout the year.

Seeds may be dispersed by autochory i.e., self dispersal, zoochory i.e., dispersal by birds or animals, anthropochory i.e., dispersal by humans.

Evergreen trees, about 15-20 m tall, with a dense pyramidal crown, wood moderately hard, dark grayish brown to yellowish brown, bark dark brown or blackish brown, exfoliating in small round flakes, branches opposite, drooping, glabrous, 6-8 angular, usually dilated below nodes, latex resinous, thick, white or pale green, becoming yellow when exposed in bark and branches. Leaves simple, opposite, very variable, linear lanceolate-oblong to ovate, about 10-45 x 3-15 cm across, base cuneate to acute, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, subrepand, coriaceous, dark green, shiny, glabrous above and paler beneath, midrib impressed above and prominent beneath, lateral veins 15-20, irregular with oblique parallel short veins between, arched and anastomising near the margins, about 6-12 mm apart, veinlets reticulate, petiole stout, thick and angular, about 1-2.5 cm long, exstipulate. Inflorescence axillary, 4-10 flowered cymes or fascicles. Flowers heterochlamydeous, dioecious, cream or white colored, about 1.5-2 cm across, pedicels slender near the base thicker toward the apex, fleshy, usually longer in female flowers, about 2-2.5 cm long, bracts red, suborbicular, bracteoles 2, about 1 mm long, sepals 5 rarely 4, imbricate, decussate in pairs, 5th sepal if present orbicular, concave, scale like petals 5, imbricate, obovate-orbicular, greenish white, clawed shortly, about 7-9 mm long. Male flowers: axillary, solitary or fascicled, yellow, stamens 15-20 in 5 bundles, alternate to fleshy glands, rudimentary pistil absent, filaments short, anthers peltate, forked near the ends, 2 loculed, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Female flowers: axillary, few flowered, bigger than male flowers, globose, with few staminodes, filaments arranged in interrupted ring shape, ovary superior, globose-ovoid, 4 locular, greenish white, ovules erect, style short, stigma rays 5, peltate, spreading. Fruit fleshy berry, subglobose, about 6 x 7 cm across, yellow, smooth, apex pointed, tip about 2-3 mm long, encased by persistent sepals and stigma. Seeds 1-4, oblong ovoid, about 3.5 x 1.7 cm across, brown, covered with juicy pulp.

A small middle sized evergreen tree with a dense narrow crown. Generally found near riverbank i.e. favours evergreen forest with clayey soil. Leaves dark green, 20- 40 cm long and 5- 8 cm width, narrowly oblong or oblong lanceolate, shining. Flowers unisexual. The fruit is 4cm-6cm in dia., . crowned by persistent stigmatic lobes, golden yellow when ripe

Garcinia species are susceptible to various insect pests, virus and fungi, affecting leaves, fruits and roots.

In evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, altitude 1400 m.

Evergreen Forests

Not evaluated (IUCN).

Fruits are edible, also used to make juices, jams and medicines. Resin is used for dyeing, cultivated for fruits, used in folk medicine.

The ripe fruit which is very acidic can be eaten raw or cooked with other vegetables. The fruit which exudes golden yellow juices can be eaten by roasting or boiling