Garcinia dulcis

Garcinia dulcis also called mundu, rata, maphuut, or taklang-anak is a tropical fruit tree. It has a scattered distribution in Indochina (Myanmar), Malesia (Peninsular Malaysia, the Maluku Islands, Sulawesi, and the Philippines), through to New Guinea and Queensland, Australia. It is also found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.[1] The tree is harvested from the wild as a local source of food, medicine or dyeing material and is sometimes cultivated for its fruit, which is occasionally sold locally. Garcinia dulcis is not grown commercially.

For the garment, see Mundu. For the ethnic group in Sudan, see Mundu people.

Garcinia dulcis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Clusiaceae
Genus: Garcinia
Species:
G. dulcis
Binomial name
Garcinia dulcis
(Roxb.) Kurz

Description

Garcinia dulcis is an evergreen tree with horizontal branches and a dense, pyramidal crown. It can grow up to 15 metres tall and has a short, straight trunk, which can develop to a size of 30 cm in diameter. The tree grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range of 22–30 °C and is well adapted to shade and humid conditions. Flowering usually occurs twice a year after long periods of drought.

Uses

The orange coloured fruits can be eaten fresh; they contain a sour, juicy pulp, which can be preserved into jam. Green dye can be obtained from the bark, when mixed with indigo it gives a brown colour which is used to dye mats. From the unripe fruits a yellow dye, called gamboge, can be extracted, but is considered inferior to other dyes from members of the same genus like Garcinia xanthochymus. Garcinia dulcis also has medicanal purposes; it can be used for the treatment of wounds or scurvy.

References
  1. "Garcinia dulcis (Roxb.) Kurz", Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2019-01-27


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.