Mangosteen (also known as mangostin and guttiferae garcinia mangostana L) is the fruit of the mangosteen tree. The tree is quite slow in growth but can achieve heights of anything from 20 to 80 feet. It is typically thick-leaved and grows exclusively in tropical countries with climate such as in India, the East Indies, Thailand and the Philippines.
It requires a considerable amount of moisture to thrive. The leaves are of leathery texture and can grow to a length of ten inches or more. It is believed to have originated from the Sunda Islands and is most extensively cultivated in Thailand, Kampuchea, Burma and Singapore.
There have been repeated attempts to cultivate it in places like Queensland and Africa, but these have never been very successful. The mangosteen tree was first introduced in America in 1906, when the United States Department of Agriculture received seeds from Java. Attempts to cultivate it in California, Florida and even Hawaii were not very “fruitful”, since the tree refuses to acclimatize itself.
Essentially, the mangosteen tree is very partial to tropical climates with temperatures above 40º F and below 100º F. It requires extremely high atmospheric humidity to thrive and a steady, abundant supply of ground water. Such conditions are hard to replicate in any non-tropical country.
A curious fact about its seeds is that they do not require fertilization in the accepted sense of the word – rather, they germinate entirely on their own. In fact, they could be termed integrated embryos in their own right. They sprout within a period of 20 days and the process is usually complete within 40 to 43 days of germination.
Cultivation is most successful when the seeds are planted at the beginning of the tropical rainy season, with a minimum spacing of 30 feet between individual trees.
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