Northern forest garcinia, Northern forest mangosteen
Garcinia kingaensis

Family: Clusiaceae

What it is like

A small to medium sized tree. It is 4-13 m high. The branches are often horizontal and slender. The bark is smooth and brown. The young branches are grooved and square in cross section. The leaves are narrowly oval. They are 6-16 cm long by 3-6 cm wide. They are leathery and bluish-grey. They are dull above and paler green underneath. The young leaves have fine parallel veins. The edges of the leaf are wavy. The leaf stalk is has a channel on above. The leaves give a yellow sap. The flowers are white to yellowish and 10 mm across. They occur singly or in groups of 2-7. They occur in short spurs on older branches. The fruit are almost round and 2.5 cm across. They are yellow-orange when mature. They are edible.

There are about 300 Garcinia species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows as an understorey tree in evergreen forest. In Malawi it grows between 700-2,200 m altitude. In Zimbabwe it rows between 1,350-2,100 m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, East Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The fruit are eaten. They are acid.

Edible parts

Fruit

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Lifilafila, Mfilafila, Mkowekowe

Synonyms

Garcinia mlanjiensis Dunkley;