Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Garcinia mangostana - Mangosteen
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds
A medium sized tree 10-20 m high with bright glossy leaves. Trees keep their leaves all year. Leaves are 15-25 cm long and leathery. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. Commercial trees only have female flowers. Male trees occur but are rare. Flowers are produced on shoots near the end of branches. Female flowers have 4 cream petals and 4 sepals and a round ovary with a thick stigma composed of 4 to 8 lobes. No pollination is required because fruit develop without fertilisation. The fruit is dark blue with 4-8 white juicy segments inside the thick skin. Each segment is enclosed in fine pinkish veins. It is 8 cm across and has flower sepals attached to the stalk end. It leaks yellow sap from wounds. Fruit is produced on side branches near to the tips of the main branches. Fruit often have no seeds or up to 2. These are not true seeds but they will grow.