Garcinia pictoria Roxb. [Hort. Beng. 42.1814, nom. nud.] ex Buch. -Ham. in Mem. Wern. Soc. 5: 46. 1826; Roxb., Fl. Ind. 2: 627. 1832. G. morella auct. non Desr. 1792; T. Anderson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 264. 1874, p.p.

Trees, up to 18 m tall; bark ferruginous, intermixed with many yellow specks, exudes yellow gamboge from incisions; branchlets tetragonous, thick, shiny. Leaves 10 - 13 x 3 -5.5 cm, oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, acute at base, otherwise petiole decurrent, obtusely acuminate at apex, entire; lateral veins ca 20, prominent, rarely with short, interposed alternate veins; petioles ca 5 mm long. Male flowers: sessile. Sepals 4, 3 x 5 mm, orbicular, outer pair shorter than inner, concave, coriaceous. Petals 4, larger and thicker than sepals. Stamens on more or less tetragonous receptacle in the centre of the flower; filaments short; anthers depressed, peltate. Rudimentary pistil absent. Female flowers: yellow, sessile or shortly pedicellate. Sepals and petals similar to male flowers. Staminodes confluent at base in a ring; anthers clavate, sterile. Ovary oblong, ovules attached to the axis a little above its middle; stigmas sessile, 11-13-lobed, 4-furrowed, coronate. Berries almost globose, smooth, 4-seeded with persistent sepals. Seeds oblong-reniform.

Fl. & Fr. Feb. - Jan.

Distrib. India: Common in forests of Western Ghats up to 1100 m. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Myanmar.

Notes. It yields an excellent yellow pigment. The timber is used locally for various purposes. The seed oil is used locally for burning lamps and as a substitute for ghee.

This species is closely allied to G. morella (Gaertn.) Desr., under which it is sometimes sunk.