Garcinia hombroniana (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Garcinia hombroniana Pierre

Family: Guttiferae

Vernacular names

• Seashore mangosteen (En)
• Peninsular Malaysia: beruas, buras, manggis hutan (Peninsular)
• Thailand: waa (peninsular).

Distribution

The Nicobar Islands, Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Borneo (Sarawak).

Uses

The arillode around the seeds is edible, sour, with a flavour of peaches. A decoction of the root may be administered after childbirth as a preventive medicine. The roots and leaves are used to relieve itching.

Observations

• Tree, 9-18 m tall, latex white.
• Leaves oblong to elliptic, 15 cm × 7.5 cm.
• Flowers unisexual, rose-red outside, cream-yellow inside.
• Fruit a globose berry, 5 cm diameter, bright rose red, scented of apples.
• Seeds numerous.

Common on sandy and rocky coasts. Resembles the mangosteen, but latex is white and flowers are smaller.

Selected sources

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd ed. 2 Volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.

• Corner, E.J.H., 1965. Check-list of Ficus in Asia and Australasia with keys to identification. The Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 21: 1-186.

• Richards, A.J., 1990. Studies in Garcinia, dioecious tropical forest trees: the phenology, pollination biology and fertilization of G. hombroniana Pierre. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 103: 251-261.

• Ridley, H.N., 1922-1925. The Flora of the Malay Peninsula. 5 Volumes. Government of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States. L. Reeve & Co., London.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen