Garcinia speciosa
Wallich, PI. Asiat. Rar. 3: 37, t. 258. 1832; T. Anderson in Fl.
Brit. India 1: 260. 1874.
And.: Parawa.
Trees, 12 - 18 m tall; trunk straight, ca 1.5 m in girth; young branchlets pretty, cinnamoneous, slightly tetragonous; wood reddish brown, hard, heavy; bark greyish-black, thin; latex pale yellow or yellow. Leaves 15 - 35 x 5 - 10 cm, oblong or elliptic-oblong, narrowed at both ends, leathery, shiny; lateral veins more or less parallel, straight, all forming an intramarginal nerve; petioles 12 - 25 mm long, thick, angular. Male flowers: Bright yellow, ca 5 cm in diam., very fragrant; peduncles slender, longer than petioles; pedicels stout, over 1 cm long. Sepals 4, ca 1 cm broad, slightly unequal, outer pair ovate, inner reniform, concave, fleshy. Petals 4, ca 2 cm long. Stamens indefinite in 4 short, ca 5 mm long, diverging oval masses, confluent at base; filaments short; anthers oblong, bilocular, dehiscence longitudinal. Rudimentary styles short, thick, columnar; stigmas large, convex, lobed. Female flowers: Solitary, terminal, sweet- scented; pedicels short, thick. Sepals and petals longer than those in male flowers. Ovary subglobular. Berries ca 5 cm in diam., globose, bright red, apiculate, with persistent hardened stigma and thickened sepals; pulp colourless, sweet or very acidic.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - July.
Distrib. India: In tropical evergreen, semievergreen and inland forests, almost at sea level. Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Andaman Islands).
Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Notes. Wood suitable for house and bridge posts and several other purposes and is also used for making bows in Andaman Islands. It yields an inferior gamboge.
Trees, 12 - 18 m tall; trunk straight, ca 1.5 m in girth; young branchlets pretty, cinnamoneous, slightly tetragonous; wood reddish brown, hard, heavy; bark greyish-black, thin; latex pale yellow or yellow. Leaves 15 - 35 x 5 - 10 cm, oblong or elliptic-oblong, narrowed at both ends, leathery, shiny; lateral veins more or less parallel, straight, all forming an intramarginal nerve; petioles 12 - 25 mm long, thick, angular. Male flowers: Bright yellow, ca 5 cm in diam., very fragrant; peduncles slender, longer than petioles; pedicels stout, over 1 cm long. Sepals 4, ca 1 cm broad, slightly unequal, outer pair ovate, inner reniform, concave, fleshy. Petals 4, ca 2 cm long. Stamens indefinite in 4 short, ca 5 mm long, diverging oval masses, confluent at base; filaments short; anthers oblong, bilocular, dehiscence longitudinal. Rudimentary styles short, thick, columnar; stigmas large, convex, lobed. Female flowers: Solitary, terminal, sweet- scented; pedicels short, thick. Sepals and petals longer than those in male flowers. Ovary subglobular. Berries ca 5 cm in diam., globose, bright red, apiculate, with persistent hardened stigma and thickened sepals; pulp colourless, sweet or very acidic.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - July.
Distrib. India: In tropical evergreen, semievergreen and inland forests, almost at sea level. Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Andaman Islands).
Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Notes. Wood suitable for house and bridge posts and several other purposes and is also used for making bows in Andaman Islands. It yields an inferior gamboge.
