Garcinia oblongifolia seed

LATIN NAME: Garcinia oblongifolia

COMMON NAME: Oblong-Leaved Garcinia

The oblong-leaved garcinia is a handsome, upright, evergreen tree of the warm forests, and its fine, oval or oblong, glossy, leathery leaves and its small, inconspicuous, greenish flowers, followed by the small, round, yellow or orange, fleshy, edible fruits, have made it a treasured and fine tree of the region. It grows as an upright, evergreen tree, reaching up to fifteen metres or more, with the upright, tapering trunk bearing the opposite, oval or oblong, pointed, glossy, leathery, dark-green leaves and, through the warm months, the small, inconspicuous, greenish flowers, followed by the small, round, yellow or orange, fleshy, sweet-sour, few-seeded fruits. It is a species of the flowering tree in the mangosteen family, and it is native to the warm forests of the southern China, while it is prized for its fine, edible fruits, and it is known as the oblong-leaved garcinia.

In the mangosteen family it is the yellow-fruited tree of the warm forests, a cousin of the famous mangosteen that carries the same glossy, leathery look.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The oblong-leaved garcinia holds a place in the food-science papers of the warm forests, where the small, round, yellow or orange fruits are studied for their fine, sweet-sour value as a refreshing fruit of the region. The garcinia chemistry is a long chapter of its own, and the natural-product chemists have gone through the parts of the tree with the greatest care. The botanists have mapped its place in the mangosteen family and the warm forest flora, and the growers of the warm-region fruit trees keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the warm garden, the oblong-leaved garcinia is the glossy tree of the small fruit harvest. Its small flowers feed the insects, its yellow or orange, fleshy fruits feed the birds and the wildlife, and the glossy, evergreen crown gives the garden shade and shelter through the year. The sweet-sour fruits are enjoyed as a fine fruit of the region, and the tree grows well in the rich, moist, well-drained ground of the sheltered spot. Glossy, yellow-fruited and generous.

These seeds do not keep long — sow them fresh, at a shallow depth in pots of rich, moist, free-draining soil, keep the pots warm and humid in a sheltered spot out of the strong sun, and the first shoots will come up steadily.