Garcinia
Garcinia is a plant genus of the family Clusiaceae native to Asia, Australia, tropical and southern Africa, and Polynesia. The number of species is highly disputed, with various sources recognizing between 50 and about 300. Commonly, the plants in this genus are called saptrees, mangosteens (which may also refer specifically to the purple mangosteen, G. mangostana), garcinias or, ambiguously, "monkey fruit".
Many species are threatened by habitat destruction, and at least 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) of tropical eastern Asia which relish the sap of overripe mangosteens.
Description
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.
Uses
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 the purple mangosteen (G. 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).