Garcinia celebica L.

സീഷോര്‍ മാങ്കോസ്റ്റീന്‍

Family : Clusiaceae

Synonym : Garcinia hombroniana Pierre

Common Names : Seashore Mangosteen

Flowering Period : March -May

Distribution : Native from Nicobar Islands to Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

Habitat : Terrestrial (Coastal Forest), Shoreline (Sandy Beach, Rocky Beach) and Cultivated

Uses : Fruit is edible. The white, acid pulp has a pleasant, agreeable flavor. The bright rose-red fruit is a globose berry, 5cm in diameter, with a scent of apples and numerous seeds. A decoction of the root may be administered after childbirth as a preventive medicine. The roots and leaves are used to relieve itching. The plant has been suggested as a rootstock for the mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana). The wood is reddish-brown and highly esteemed; it is used for general building purposes.

Key Characters :

Plant is a latex-containing, small to medium sized tree, up to 18 m tall. Leaves are opposite, stalked; oval to elliptic is shape, 6.5-15.5 cm long and 3.5-7.6 cm wide. Flowers have sepals that are pink or rose-red on the exterior and cream-yellow in the interior and cream petals. Round fruits are bright rose-red when ripe, up to 5 cm wide and smell of apples.