Lemon Drop Mangosteen, Mameyito - Garcinia intermedia
Garcinia intermedia fruit
Fig. 1 magnifying glass
Garcinia intermedia

Leaf habit
Fig. 2 magnifying glass
G. intermedia leaf habit

Garcinia intermedia flower buds
Fig. 5 magnifying glass
G. intermedia flower buds

Flower
Fig. 6 magnifying glass
Fruit beginning to form

Garcinia intermedia syn. Rheedia edulis flowers
Fig. 7 magnifying glass
G. intermedia flowers and small fruits

Lemon Drop Mangosteen Garcinia intermedia - Immature Fruits & Flowers
Fig. 8 magnifying glass
Lemon drop mangosteen immature fruits and flowers

Fruit habit
Fig. 9 magnifying glass

Rheedia edulis, Garcinia intermedia, Calophyllum edule
Fig. 10 magnifying glass
Fruiting habit

Fruit
Fig. 11 magnifying glass

Seeds dry
Fig. 15 magnifying glass
Seeds dry

Seeds dry
Fig. 16 magnifying glass
Seeds wet

Growth habit
Fig. 17 magnifying glass
G. intermedia growth habit

Garcinia intermedia syn. Rheedia edulis
Fig. 18 magnifying glass
G. intermedia syn. R. edulis

Garcinia intermedia syn. Rheedia edulis & Garcinia livingstonei
Fig. 19 magnifying glass
G. intermedia and G. livingstonei


Scientific name
Garcinia intermedia (Pittier) Hammel
Common names
English: lemon drop mangosteen, mameyito, monkey fruit; Spanish: arrayan, palo de frutilla (Guatemala), waiki plum (Belize), chaparrón (El Salvador), caimito or caimito de montaña (Honduras), jorco (Costa Rica), sastra (Panama), berba (Philippines) 5,8
Synonyms
Rheedia intermedia Pittier, R. edulis (Seem.) Planch. & Triana, R. tonduziana Engl., Calophyllum edule Seem. 2,9
Relatives
Imbe (G. livingstonei), cherapu (G. prainiana), madrono (G. mdruno), bakupari (R. brasiliensis), mangosteen (G. mangostana); Brunei cherry (G. parvifolia); cherry mangosteen (G. intermedia); gamboge (G. xanthochymus); gourka (G. dulces); seaside mangosteen (G. hombroniana)
Family
Clusiaceae/Guttiferae (St. John’s wort family)
Origin
Both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of Central America, from southern Mexico to Panama 5
Uses
Fruit; ornamental tree; can be grown in a container
Height
10-15 ft (3-5 m)
Plant habit
Small bush or tree
Growth rate
Fast
Trunk/bark/branches
Straight; dark brown trunk; yellow latex 3
Leaves
Evergreen, opposite, stiff, 3 3/16-6 in. (8-15 cm) long, 3/4-2 in. (2-5 cm) wide 5
Flowers
Whitish and small, perfect, produced in axillary groups of 1-15 at branch nodes 3
Fruit
Round; thin orange to reddish peel; pulp (aril) whitish; aromatic sweet sour taste; 1-2 seeds 3
Season
June-Aug.
Light requirement
Part shade to full sun; fruits more prolifically in full sun
Soil tolerances
Tolerant of a wide range of soils 1
Cold tolerance
30 °F (-1.1 °C)
Invasive potential *
None reported
Known hazard
None known



Reading Material

Mameyito, Fruits of Warm Climates



There are over 250 Garcinia species, mostly from southeast Asia. Garcinia species from the Americas were once classified as Rheedia, but now all are considered Garcinia.

Sorting Garcinia Names, Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database, University of Melbourne, Australia ext. link

Origin

This species is native to southern Mexico and Central America and possibly to northwestern South America. It requires a humid tropical climate. The tree is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental or fruit tree in Asia and Africa. 7
It is cultivated on a small scale in many countries like Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama etc. 3

Description
Garcinia intermedia is a species of tropical American tree which produces tasty fruit. In English it is known as the lemon drop mangosteen (a name it shares with the closely related and similarly tasting Garcinia madruno). In Spanish it is called mameyito. In Portuguese it is called achachairu. The name achachairu is also applied to Garcinia humilis, another species native to Bolivia with larger, round or egg-shaped fruit. G. humilis has been commercialized in Australia under the name Achacha. 1

Leaves
Are opposite, short-petioled, thick, leathery, elliptic-oblong or elliptic-lanceolate leaves, 3 3/16 to 6 in (8-15 cm) long, 3/4 to 2 in. (2-5 cm) wide, or much larger, with numerous lateral veins conspicuous on both surfaces; dark-green above, pale or brownish on the underside. Young foliage is reddish. 5
The natural angular structure of the G. intermedia lends itself to be espaliered.

Leaves Lemon drop mangosteen new growth
Fig. 3 magnifying glass Fig. 4 magnifying glass

Fig. 4. Lemon drop mangosteen new growth

Flowers
The small, greenish-white or ivory flowers, densely clustered below the leaves, are 4-petalled, the male with 25 to 30 stamens, the perfect with 10 to 12. It makes an attractive ornamental tree, especially when in fruit, which may be year round. 1,5
Female flowers are solitary and occur in single or occasionally in clusters (2-10 flowers) developed at the terminal buds of young branches in case of mangosteen, but both terminal buds and axillary buds were found in the other species. 4

Fruit
The fruit is oval or oblong, 3/4 to 1 1/4 in. (2-3.2 cm) long, smooth, orange or yellow, the thin, soft skin easily peeled. There is a little flesh, sweet or acid, adhering to the 1 or 2 seeds.
The tree may fruit after as little as two years. The fruits are smooth spheres about an inch in diameter with a thin yellow, orange or red rind around a white pulp. They are edible and have an appealing sweet and sour taste. 2

Immature fruit Fruit Fruiting branch
Fig. 12 magnifying glass Fig. 13 magnifying glass Fig. 14 magnifying glass

Fig. 13. Immature fruit

Propagation
The tree is generally propagated from seeds, though it can be grafted. No named cultivars are known. Seeds lose viability if dried, but can retain viability for a period of months if kept moist. 3
It is a fairly fast-grower for a Garcinia and can fruit within 2-3 years from seed. 8

Food Uses
Lemon drop mangosteen is primarily consumed fresh. Aril forms the edible part. It can also be used to make juices, jams and jellies. 3

Other Uses
The heartwood is rose-yellow, hard, medium-heavy, coarse-textured, with numerous gum ducts, but tough, strong, easy to work, fairly durable, and valued for construction because it is nearly immune to insects. It is also used for tool handles, fenceposts, and temporary railroad ties. The bark is rich in tannin. 5

Other Edible
Garcinia species:
Achachairu, G. humilis
Bacuripari, G. macrophylla
Bakupari, G. brasiliensis
Cherapu (button mangosteen), G. prainiana
Gamboge (false mangosteen), G. xanthochymus
Imbe (African mangosteen), G. livinstonei
Madrono, G. madruno


List of Growers and Vendors
Bibliography

1 "Garcinia intermedia." Wikipedia, wikipedia.org. Accessed 11 Jan. 2017.
2 "Garcinia intermedia." Tropical Plant Databasetropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Garcinia+intermedia. Accessed 11 Jan. 2017.
3 Parmar, Chiranjit. "Lemon drop mangosteen (Garcinia edulis)." Fruitipedia, fruitipedia.com. Accessed 11 Jan. 2017.
4 Te-chato, Sompong. "Floral and fruit morphology of some species in Garcinia spp." Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90112 Thailand. 2006. Print.
5 Fruits of Warm Climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, 1987.
6 "Taxon: Garcinia intermedia (Pittier) Hammel." USDA, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, GRIN-Global, npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=417778. Accessed 6 May 2021.
7 Blancke, Rolf. "Tropical Fruits and Other Edible Plants of the World: An Illustrated Guide." Zlibrary, 2016, b-ok.cc/book/3414166/f1bf9d?dsource=recommend. Accessed 7 May 2021.
8 "Lemon Drop Mangosteen, Garcinia intermedia." Trade Winds Fruit, www.tradewindsfruit.com/content/monkey-fruit.htm. Accessed 28 May 2021.
9 "Garcinia intermedia (Pittier) Hammel." Plants of the world Online, Kew Science, www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:277320-2. Accessed 28 May 2021.

Photographs

Fig. 1,2,6,14 Vinayaraj. "Garcinia intermedia." 2013, Wikimedia Commons, (CC BY-SA 3.0), commons.wikimedia.org. Accessed 30 Jan. 2015.

Fig. 3,8,9,10 "Rheedia edulis, Garcinia intermedia, Calophyllum edule." Top Tropicals, toptropicals.com. Accessed 30 Jan. 2015.

Fig. 4,5,7,8,17,18,19 Bronson, Eric, I likE plants! "Garcinia intermedia." I likE plants, 2009, Flickr, (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US), flickr.com. Accessed 29 Jan. 2015.
Fig. 11,12,13,14,15,16 Paton, Steve. "Garcinia intermedia." Environmental Sciences Program, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, 2003-2006, stri.si.edu. Accessed 29 Jan. 2015.

UF/IFAS Assessment of Non-native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas

Published 12 Apr. 2014 LR. Last update 12 Dec. 2023 LR
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