Garcinia cowa (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Garcinia cowa Roxb.

Family: Guttiferae

Synonyms

• Garcinia lobulosa Wallich ex T. Anderson,
• Garcinia roxburghii Wight,
• Garcinia umbellifera Roxb.

Vernacular names

• Cowa mangosteen (En)
• Indonesia: kemenjing (Java), ki ceuri (West Java)
• Malaysia: kandis
• Philippines: bilukau (Tagalog), pildis (Pampanggan), paniginen (Sambali)
• Burma (Myanmar): pala-kye
• Thailand: mak mok (north-eastern), muang som (peninsular), chamuang
• Vietnam: tai chua.

Distribution

India, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, wild and cultivated. Occasionally also cultivated outside this area.

Uses

Young leaves and shoots are eaten cooked in Burma and Thailand where it is sold in small quantities in local markets. Fruits are edible but very acid. In Vietnam they are an important source of natural citric acid, used for making sour fish or crab soup. The tree yields an inferior gum-resin, resembling gamboge. The tree is sometimes used as rootstock for G. mangostana L.

Observations

• An evergreen, tall to medium-sized, dioecious tree.
• Leaves broadly lanceolate, 5-7.5 cm long, thick and shiny.
• Fruit a dull red subglobose berry, 3-5 cm × 2.5-3.5 cm, slightly 6-8-lobed, with orange-yellow pulp.

In evergreen and semi-evergreen forest or along streams in valleys.

Selected sources

27, 52, 86, 94. vegetables