Garcinia mangostana

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to tropical lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Its origin is uncertain due to widespread prehistoric cultivation. It grows mainly in Southeast Asia, southwest India and other tropical areas such as Colombia & Puerto Rico, where the tree has been introduced. The tree grows from 6 to tall. The fruit of the mangosteen is sweet and tangy, juicy, somewhat fibrous, with fluid-filled vesicles (like the flesh of citrus fruits), with an inedible, deep reddish-purple colored rind (exocarp) when ripe. In each fruit, the fragrant edible flesh that surrounds each seed is botanically endocarp, i.e., the inner layer of the ovary.Mabberley, D.J. 1997. The plant book: A portable dictionary of the vascular plants. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. The seeds are of similar size and shape to almonds. Mangosteen belongs to the same genus as the other, less widely known fruit, such as the button mangosteen (G. prainiana) or the charichuelo (G. madruno).

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