မဒေါ့

Myanmar Name – Ma daw

Common Name – Egg Tree, Gamboge Tree, Sour Mangosteen, Himalayan Garcinia, False Mangosteen, Camboge, Mundu

Botanical Name – Garcinia xanthochymus Hook.f. ex T.Anderson

Family Name – Clusiaceae

Habitat – Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.

Habit – Evergreen trees, about 15-20 m tall, with a dense pyramidal crown, wood moderately hard

Bark – bark grey, reddish or pale gray,

Leaves – Leaves simple, opposite or rarely ternate, lanceolate-ovate to oblong-oblong, base acute to obtuse, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, chartaceous, leathery, coriaceous, glabrous on both sides, exstipulate, rarely stipulate.

Inflorescence – Inflorescence axillary or terminal, in cymes, fascicles, solitary or paired.

Flower – Flowers 4-5 merous, heterochlamydeous, dioecious, pseudobisexual and female ones, always less, pedicel short or sessile, sepals 4 or 5-6, imbricate, decussate in pairs, Female flowers: often solitary, bigger than male flowers, with minute free or united staminodes

Fruit And Seed – Fruit fleshy berry, sulcate or smooth, encased by persistent sepals. Seeds 1-12, oblong ovoid, covered with juicy cream white pulp.

Flowering and Fruiting Time – Flowering season is March-May and fruiting in October-February

Usage – Food (Fruit & Vegetable): The fruits are used to make vinegar, preserves and jams. Medicinal: The dried fruits are used in treating vomiting. Others: The latex is used for dyeing.