Garcinia xanthochymus Hook. F. ex T. Anderson (GUTTIFERAE)
Common names
English: Mysore Gamboge.
Kannada: Jarige, Devagarige (Konakni : Dhanambe).
Malayalam: Anavya.
Description: Trees, up to 20 m tall with a beautiful dense pyramidal crown; branches patent, ends dropping, 6-8- angular; bark blackish or dark grey, exfoliating in small round flakes, exuding gum; latex milky or pale green, turning yellow on exposure. Leaves linear – oblong or oblong – lanceolate, 12-45×4-12 cm, cuneate at base, acute to acuminate at apex, coriaceous, dark green, shiny; lateral veins 15-20 pairs, distinct, subparallel; petioles 1-2.5 cm long, stout. Stipules fleshy, adnate, intrapetiolar. Flowers small, in axillary or from the axils of fallen leaves fasciles of 4-10 flowers, white or cream-coloured. Sepals 5, rarely 4, unequal, orbicular, fleshy, persistent. Petals 5, thin. Male flowers: Stamens 15-20 in 5 broad bundles of 3-5 each; rudimentary pistil absent. Female flowers: Staminodes few, in an interrupted ring. The ovary is 5-locular with 5 stigmas. The fruit is a subglobose berry, reaching a diameter of up to 6.5 cm, displaying a dark yellow color with plentiful yellow gum. The seeds, numbering 1-4, are oblong and can measure up to 3.5×1.8 cm, appearing brown.
Flowering & Fruiting: Throughout the year.
Distribution: India: In evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous and in the lower hill forests up to 1400 m. Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Orissa, Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.Bangladesh, China, Malaya Peninsula, Myanmar and Thailand. Sometimes cultivated.
Uses: The fruit has a juicy pulp with a pleasant acrid flavour. It is made into preserves and jams. It can be used in place of tamarind for curries and in the preparation of vinegar. The exudation from the under-ripe fruit, which is yellow in colour, and the bark are used in Assam for dyeing. Fruit cathartic, used in abdominal disorders, vomiting, piles, anaemia, fever, giddiness and cardiac diseases; sherbet from dried fruits is used in biliousness.
