Interesting Facts
Description
Genus Garcinia
Trees
or shrubs
, usually with yellow latex. Terminal
bud functional; buds usually lacking scales
. Leaves opposite [or rarely whorled
], very rarely stipulate
, petiolate
, entire, leathery to papery
, usually glabrous
; secondary veins usually prominent
, numerous
to few, oblique
to perpendicular to midvein
; tertiary veins reticulate, with adaxial
brownish transvenous resin canals [or much branched] and abaxial
linear
[to punctiform
or much branched] or intervenous
translucent
glands
; petiole
often with basal liguliform appendage
. Plant functionally dioecious (sometimes apparently flowers bisexual
or plant monoecious), flowers in terminal and/or axillary
cymes (often thyrsiform), triads
or fascicles, or paired
or solitary. Sepals [2 or 3 or]4 or 5, decussate or imbricate (quincuncial), free
[or very rarely completely connate
in bud]. Petals [3 or]4 or 5[-8], fascicles each with many to few stamens with filaments
almost free to completely united
, or ± completely connate [or adnate
to petals], with anthers
1, 2, 4 or many-celled, basifixed
or variously united; fasciclodes (sterile
stamen fascicles) 4 or 5, antisepalous
and free or ± united or absent; pistillode
present or absent. Female flowers: staminode fascicles as for staminate flowers
but smaller or staminodes apparently free; fasciclodes free as in male flower but smaller or united in a ring
at base
of ovary or absent; stigmas free or ± united, peltate, 2-5-lobed or entire. Berry smooth
or sulcate
[or verrucose
or rarely secondarily dehiscent
], with leathery to thin exocarp
and 1-5 or sometimes more seeds embedded
in endocarpic pulp. Seeds large; hypocotyl massive.
About 450 species: tropical
and S Africa, Madagascar, tropical Asia, NE Australia, W Polynesia, tropical America; 20 species (13 endemic, one introduced
) in China.
The fruit of most species in this genus are edible, among them, those of Garcinia mangostana are famous. The seeds yield more than 15% oil
. The yellow resin of some species is used as a medicine. Species like G. hanburyi J. D. Hooker provide medicinal resin and yellow dyes of the best quality. The timber of many species is used for building houses or making furniture.[1]
Habitat
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,622 meters (0 to 5,322 feet).[2]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- (Auct.) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
(
)
- Auct.
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
)
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Theanae
(
)
- Thorne Ex Reveal, 1993
- Order:
Malpighiales
(
)
- C. Martius, 1835
- Family:
Guttiferae
(
)
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons., nom. alt.
- Subfamily:
Clusioideae
(
)
- Tribe:
Garcinieae
(
)
- Genus:
Garcinia
(
)
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- Saptree
- Specific epithet:
huillensis
- Welw.
- Botanical name: - Garcinia huillensis Welw.
- Specific epithet:
huillensis
- Welw.
- Genus:
Garcinia
(
- Tribe:
Garcinieae
(
- Subfamily:
Clusioideae
(
- Family:
Guttiferae
(
- Order:
Malpighiales
(
- Superorder:
Theanae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author : Welw. Publication : Fl. Trop. Afr. [Oliver et al. ] 1: 167 1868 [Oct 1868]
Similar Species
Members of the genus Garcinia
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 20 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
G. capuronii (Tin Can Bay Whiting) · G. dulcis (Gourka) · G. hanburyi (Hanbury's Garcinia) · G. hessii (Lemon Saptree) · G. hombroniana (Luli) · G. indica (Garcinia) · G. intermedia (Monkey Fruit) · G. kola (Garcinia) · G. lateriflora (Garcinia) · G. livingstonei (African Mangosteen) · G. lowryi (Clanwilliam Redfin) · G. mangostana (Manggis) · G. morella (Ceylon Camboge) · G. multiflora (Garcinia) · G. myrtifolia (Garcinia) · G. portoricensis (Bakupari) · G. prainiana (Button Mangosteen) · G. schomburgkiana (Madan) · G. spicata (Gamboge Tree) · G. xanthochymus (False Mangosteen)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Catalogue of the African plants London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1896-1901. url .
- IUCN Directory of Afrotropical Protected Areas IUCN, UNEP url p. 836.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 11, 2012.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
- The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:
- Missouri Botanical Garden
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 9220304
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13792337
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:428000-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 428000-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 740912
Footnotes
- Xi-wen Li, Jie Li & Peter Stevens "Garcinia". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 1, 40. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- Mean = 1,111.770 meters (3,647.539 feet), Standard Deviation = 392.190 based on 13 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
