Garcinia affinis
Wallich [Cat. No. 4852. 1831, p.p.] ex Pierre, Fl. Forest. Cochinch.
Fasc. 6: 16, t. 78C, 79G. 1883, non Wight & Arn. 1834. G. comea auct. non L.; Choisy,
Descr. Guttif. Inde 53.1849; T. Anderson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 260. 1874. p.p .
Kh.: Dieng-soh-Kwang-rit; Garo: Thekakhaksi
Trees, 6 - 10 m tall; branchlets robust, compressed-tetragonous; wood brown or reddish-brown, hard, heavy; bark grey, exfoliating in large, more or less round flakes, cut exudes white gum. Leaves 4 - 18 x 3 - 10 cm, ovate-elliptic, acute to subacute at base, obtuse to short acuminate at apex, chartaceous, shiny, entire; lateral veins ca 18 - 24 pairs, filiform, straight or forked; petioles 1 - 2 cm long, channelled above with ligule clasping stem at base. Male flowers: 3 - 9 in fascicles at apices of branchlets, pale greenor pale yellow, ca 3 cm in diam., buds globose; pedicels 9 - 10 mm long. Sepals 4, 9 - 11 x 7 - 12 mm, outer broader than inner, suborbicular or inner obovate, concave,coriaceous. Petals 13 - 15 x 8 - 10 mm, somewhat longer and thinner than sepals, concave. Androphore central, thick, phalanges short, centre produced in rudimentary pistil; anthers indefinite, bilocular, sessile or subsessile. Female flowers: Solitary or geminate,terminal; pedicels ca 5 mm long, stout. Ovary short, broad, turbinate, smooth; median style short, thick; stigmas 6 - 7 mm broad, convex, coronate. Berries ca 3 cm in diam., ovate-oblong, smooth, purpurascens, bright red or dark purple, mamillate, crowned by stigma; pericarp spongy, pulp hardly of pleasant taste, 2 - 4-seeded. Seeds oblong, laterally compressed, 1 - 2 cm long.
Fl. & Fr. Nov. - June (- Aug.)
Distrib. India: In tropical forests. Assam, Meghalaya; sometimes cultivated in West Bengal and Kerala.
Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Notes. It yields an inferior sort of gamboge of uncertain use. The fruits are said to be edible.
Trees, 6 - 10 m tall; branchlets robust, compressed-tetragonous; wood brown or reddish-brown, hard, heavy; bark grey, exfoliating in large, more or less round flakes, cut exudes white gum. Leaves 4 - 18 x 3 - 10 cm, ovate-elliptic, acute to subacute at base, obtuse to short acuminate at apex, chartaceous, shiny, entire; lateral veins ca 18 - 24 pairs, filiform, straight or forked; petioles 1 - 2 cm long, channelled above with ligule clasping stem at base. Male flowers: 3 - 9 in fascicles at apices of branchlets, pale greenor pale yellow, ca 3 cm in diam., buds globose; pedicels 9 - 10 mm long. Sepals 4, 9 - 11 x 7 - 12 mm, outer broader than inner, suborbicular or inner obovate, concave,coriaceous. Petals 13 - 15 x 8 - 10 mm, somewhat longer and thinner than sepals, concave. Androphore central, thick, phalanges short, centre produced in rudimentary pistil; anthers indefinite, bilocular, sessile or subsessile. Female flowers: Solitary or geminate,terminal; pedicels ca 5 mm long, stout. Ovary short, broad, turbinate, smooth; median style short, thick; stigmas 6 - 7 mm broad, convex, coronate. Berries ca 3 cm in diam., ovate-oblong, smooth, purpurascens, bright red or dark purple, mamillate, crowned by stigma; pericarp spongy, pulp hardly of pleasant taste, 2 - 4-seeded. Seeds oblong, laterally compressed, 1 - 2 cm long.
Fl. & Fr. Nov. - June (- Aug.)
Distrib. India: In tropical forests. Assam, Meghalaya; sometimes cultivated in West Bengal and Kerala.
Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Notes. It yields an inferior sort of gamboge of uncertain use. The fruits are said to be edible.
