Monday, January 16, 2012

Mangosteen tree with fruits

mangosteen_tree
Here’s a quick cameraphone shot of mangosteens still on the tree. Can you spot them? Follow the triple white arrows. The mangosteen tree (Garcinia mangostana) has very dense foliage. Not easy to spot the fruits even after they’ve ripened and turned turn purple-black.

Mangosteen “hunting” is not fun (but eating mangosteens is!), you have to donate blood to mosquitoes and crane your neck trying your hardest to spot the dark fruits hidden amongst the dense foliage.

Once spotted, knock them down with a long stick if you intend to eat the fruits right away, otherwise, best to tie a hook at the end and use a net to catch the falling fruits.

Mangosteens that hit the ground hard are prone to “bruising” inside, latex from the skin coats the white flesh inside. That’s why they are best harvested or plucked by hand or in a much gentler manner than knocking them down.

See also: Freshly plucked mangosteens

2 comments:

vinesandspines said...

yep. the yellow latex. ive heard it referred to as gamboge. i wonder if it would be easier to spot at night with a flashlight than during the day when they are strongly backlit. of course youd probably feed the skeeters more.

sarawaklens said...

@vines, don't think I'd want to try looking at night. Might catch a snake instead lol

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