Garcinia pedunculata
Roxb. ex Buch.-Ham. (in Ann. Oriental Lit. (I): 244. 1820)in Brewster, Edinburgh. Sci. 7: 45,t.1.1827; T. Anderson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 264.1874.
Asm.: Bor-thekera; Beng. & Hindi: Tikul, Tikur; Kh.: Soh-lyntraw, Dieng-soh-danei; Lus.: Thaipomlein; Mikir: Ampri-arong, Miri & Abor, Tabing-asing.
Trees, ca 20 m tall, deciduous with oval crown; trunk fluted with rather short, spreading branches; wood yellow; bark dark brown or dark grey, almost smooth, thick, spongy, slowly exuding scanty gum. Leaves 10 - 40 x 5 - 15 cm, oblong or obovate-oblong, cuneate at base, acute or obtuse at apex, undulate, subcoriaceous or membranous, midrib stout, prominent beneath, laterals veins 10 - 30, ca 8 - 15 mm apart, regular, obliquely parallel, inarching at tips and anastomosing, prominent beneath; petioles 2 - 4.5 cm long. Male flowers: ca 1 cm in diam., pale green; pedicels erect, stiff, each with a pair of bracts a little above base. Sepals 4, orbicular, concave, fleshy with scarious margins, subequal, outer pair 9 - 10 x 12 mm, inner pair 9 x 6 mm, narrower. Petals 4, 9 - 11 mm long, obovate-oblong, narrowed and as long as or scarcely longer than sepals. Stamens indefinite in a 4-angled, truncate, shortly stipitate mass; anthers bilocular, tetragonous, introrse. Rudimentary pistil represented by an abortive gland on fleshy receptacle. Female flowers: Solitary, terminal, pedunculate, bracteate, similar to male flowers but larger, ca 2 cm across, yellow to green or pale green; pedicels ca 3 cm long, stout, 4-angled, articulate at base. Staminodes 20 - 30 in 4 fascicles, connate at base. Ovary globose, 8 - 12-locular; stigmas peltate, rays spreading or radiate. Berries saffron-yellow, fleshy, exceedingly acidic, 7 - 11 cm in diam. Seeds 8 - 10, large, reniform with fleshy aril.
Fl. & Fr. Sept. - July
Distrib. India: In evergreen forests up to 915 m. West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya; sometimes cultivated.
Bangladesh.
Notes. Fruit of this species is one of the largest in the genus. It is pleasant to eat, eaten raw or cooked and used as a fIXative or as a mordant for saffron dye. It is used in curries and for acidulating water. Dried slices of fruit used as a substitute for lemon and lime. The timber after seasoning is reported to be useful for planks, beams and for building purposes.
Trees, ca 20 m tall, deciduous with oval crown; trunk fluted with rather short, spreading branches; wood yellow; bark dark brown or dark grey, almost smooth, thick, spongy, slowly exuding scanty gum. Leaves 10 - 40 x 5 - 15 cm, oblong or obovate-oblong, cuneate at base, acute or obtuse at apex, undulate, subcoriaceous or membranous, midrib stout, prominent beneath, laterals veins 10 - 30, ca 8 - 15 mm apart, regular, obliquely parallel, inarching at tips and anastomosing, prominent beneath; petioles 2 - 4.5 cm long. Male flowers: ca 1 cm in diam., pale green; pedicels erect, stiff, each with a pair of bracts a little above base. Sepals 4, orbicular, concave, fleshy with scarious margins, subequal, outer pair 9 - 10 x 12 mm, inner pair 9 x 6 mm, narrower. Petals 4, 9 - 11 mm long, obovate-oblong, narrowed and as long as or scarcely longer than sepals. Stamens indefinite in a 4-angled, truncate, shortly stipitate mass; anthers bilocular, tetragonous, introrse. Rudimentary pistil represented by an abortive gland on fleshy receptacle. Female flowers: Solitary, terminal, pedunculate, bracteate, similar to male flowers but larger, ca 2 cm across, yellow to green or pale green; pedicels ca 3 cm long, stout, 4-angled, articulate at base. Staminodes 20 - 30 in 4 fascicles, connate at base. Ovary globose, 8 - 12-locular; stigmas peltate, rays spreading or radiate. Berries saffron-yellow, fleshy, exceedingly acidic, 7 - 11 cm in diam. Seeds 8 - 10, large, reniform with fleshy aril.
Fl. & Fr. Sept. - July
Distrib. India: In evergreen forests up to 915 m. West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya; sometimes cultivated.
Bangladesh.
Notes. Fruit of this species is one of the largest in the genus. It is pleasant to eat, eaten raw or cooked and used as a fIXative or as a mordant for saffron dye. It is used in curries and for acidulating water. Dried slices of fruit used as a substitute for lemon and lime. The timber after seasoning is reported to be useful for planks, beams and for building purposes.
