[Botany • 2022] Lectotypifications of Three Names in Garcinia, Synonymy of Garcinia pedunculata and Detailed Descriptions of Three Species in Garcinia Section Brindonia (Clusiaceae)

 ส้มแขก  Garcinia atroviridis Griff. ex T. Anderson 

  มะแปม  Garcinia lanceifolia Roxb.

ส้มควาย Garcinia pedunculata Roxb. ex Buch.-Ham.

in Ngernsaengsaruay, 2022.

DOI: 10.3390/d14070556 

Abstract

A revision of the genus Garcinia has recently been undertaken by the author as part of the Flora of Thailand. Herbarium specimens deposited in several herbaria, and those included in the digital herbarium databases, were examined by consulting taxonomic literature. In this study, the three names in Garcinia section Brindonia are lectotypified as G. gracilis, G. lanceifolia and G. planchonii. A new synonym for G. pedunculata, namely G. planchonii, is proposed. Detailed descriptions, recognitions and illustrations of three species in Garcinia (G. atroviridis, G. lanceifolia and G. pedunculata) are presented, along with information on distributions, specimens examined, habitats and ecology, IUCN conservation status, phenology, etymology, vernacular names and uses. The fruits, the young shoots and leaves, and the flowers of these three species are edible and have a sour taste. These species are often cultivated for their fruits.

Keywords: black gland dots; colourless latex; edible plants; dioecious plant; Garcinia atroviridis; Garcinia lanceifolia; interrupted wavy lines; plant taxonomy; sour relish; yellow latex

 Garcinia atroviridis Griff. ex T. Anderson 
(A) stem and outer bark; (B) outer bark and inner bark with colourless latex; (C) branches, young and mature leaves; (D) inflorescence with male flowers; (E) female flower; (F) young fruit; (G) fruiting branch; (H) mature and ripe fruits.

Photos: Chatchai Ngernsaengsaruay.

 Garcinia atroviridis Griff. ex T. Anderson 

(Anderson, 1874)

Recognition. Garcinia atroviridis is a dioecious tree up to 20 m tall; branches horizontal and drooping; branchlets terete; inner bark with colourless latex; flowers large, 4–5.5 cm in diam.; petals bright red; stamens numerous, united in a ring central mass surrounding a pistillode; stigma bright red; fruits depressed globose, 5.7–7 × 7.8–10 cm, 10–14-lobed and sulcate, concave at both ends, green, turning bright yellow when ripe; leaves oblong, oblong-obovate or obovate, 13–26 × 5–8.5 cm, shiny dark green above, with a few scattered black gland dots on both surfaces, interrupted long wavy lines of differing lengths; young leaves red; dry leaves chartaceous, blackish-brown, dark brown or greenish-brown.

Distribution. India (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh), Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia (Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Malacca, Johor), Singapore, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo). 

Etymology. The specific epithet atroviridis from Latin compound words, atro- meaning black or dark, and viridis meaning green, refers to the colour of the leaves, dark green.

Vernacular Name. Cha muang chang (ชะมวงช้าง) (Peninsular), Ma kham khaek (มะขามแขก) (Narathiwat); Som khaek (ส้มแขก) (Trang, Pattani); Som khwai (ส้มควาย) (Trang); Som pha ngun (ส้มพะงุน) (Pattani); Som ma won (ส้มมะวน) (Peninsular); Som ma on (ส้มมะอน) (Pattani); A-sae-ka-lu-ko (อาแซกะลูโก) (Malay-Narathiwat); Asam gelugor, Asam gelugur (the fruit), Gelugor, Gelugur, Kayu gelugur (the tree) (Malaysia, Indonesia).

Uses. Garcinia atroviridis is commonly cultivated for its fruits in southern Thailand. The pericarp, sarcotesta, young shoots and leaves are edible and have a sour taste. The fruits are used fresh or dried, cooked or raw; the young shoots and leaves are used fresh and cooked, as a vegetable. The fruits are usually sliced, sun-dried and preserved for consumption in curries (southern Thai spicy sour yellow curries with fish: “Kaeng Som” (sour curry) or “Kaeng Lueang” (yellow sour curry)). It can be used as a pickle, tea and beverage flavouring, and it can be processed to make preserved fruit in syrup or it can be sun-dried. The fruits, young shoots and leaves are used as a sour flavouring in soups with pork, beef or fish. It can be used as a substitute for tamarinds or limes (the author’s observations and interviews), in conformity with Agarwal [64], Bircher & Bircher [65], Burkill [66], Sastri [67], and Verheij & Coronel [50]. In Singapore, it is a tree suitable for gardens, parks and roadsides (the author’s observation).

Garcinia atroviridis (Asam keping) is an important ingredient in most Malay dishes, where it is used as a seasoning or sour relish. In addition to the Asam keping, many value-added products, including juice, candy, chutney and tea, have been developed using the fresh fruits and leaves [68]. The fruits are too sour to be eaten raw but are tasty when stewed with sugar [66,67].

Medicinally, the fruits and leaves are applied to women after childbirth [50,66,68] and a decoction of leaves and roots is used in the treatment of earache [50,64,66,67]. The fruits are commonly used in diets in Southeast Asia [69]. The dried fruits are used as a fixative for dyes [50,64,65,66,67].

 Garcinia lanceifolia Roxb.:
(A) stem, outer bark and inner bark with yellow latex; (B) branches, young and mature leaves; (C) male flowering branches; (D) inflorescence with female flowers; (E) fruiting branch; (F) ripe fruit; (G) mature and ripe fruits, showing pericarps and seeds with white sarcotesta (cross section).

Photos: Chatchai Ngernsaengsaruay.

 Garcinia lanceifolia Roxb. 

(Roxburgh, 1814, as G. lanceæfolia, 

nom. nud.; Roxburgh 1832)

Recognition. Garcinia lanceifolia is characterised as a dioecious, sometimes polygamo-dioecious, shrub or small tree, 1–6 m tall, with yellow latex; branchlets 4-angular; inflorescences in fascicles of 2–3 flowers or solitary; flowers small, 5–8.5 mm in diam., fully opened flowers with a small apical opening (look like flower buds); sepals and petals orangish-red or red; stamens many, united in a central short column; fruits depressed globose or subglobose, 2.2–3.5 × 2.3–4.5 cm, very shallowly 5–7-lobed or indistinctly lobed, apex usually concave, green, orangish-yellow, turning orange or bright red when ripe, glossy; leaves elliptic, narrowly elliptic, oblong-elliptic or ovate, 4.5–10 × 1.5–3 cm, shiny; young leaves shiny pale green and petiole red or greenish-red.

Distribution. India (Assam), Bangladesh (Chittagong hills), Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand (Figure 8).

Etymology. The specific epithet lanceifolia from Latin compound words, lancea- meaning lance or spear, and -folia meaning -leaved, refers to the leaf shape, lanceolate (spear-shaped). 

The specific epithet of its synonym, G. gracilis is a Latin word meaning thin or slender, referring to the character of the leaves [61,62,63].

Vernacular Name. Ma paem (มะแปม), Mak paem (หมักแปม), Mak paem (หมากแปม) (Bueng Kan, Nong Khai, Laos); Cha maeng (ชะแมง) (Rayong); Cha mang (ชะมาง) (South-Eastern); Ma dan daeng (มะดันแดง) (Central); Salit (สลิด) (Tha Chang, Surat Thani); Assamikau, Kan tekera, Prango-arong, Prangsu, Rupohi-thekera (India-Assamese); Dieng-soh-jadu (India-Khasi); Pelte (India-Lushai); Thisuru (India-Garo).

Uses. Garcinia lanceifolia is often cultivated for its fruits in south-eastern Thailand. The pericarp, sarcotesta, young shoots and leaves are edible and have a sour taste. The ripe fruits are edible and are used fresh in beverages and jams and in flavoured ice cream. It can be processed to make preserved fruit in syrup, or it can be sun-dried. It is often cultivated as an ornamental plant (the author’s observations and interviews). In India, it is often cultivated in villages for its fruits, which are acidic and eaten with relish. The leaves are cooked as a vegetable [64,67].

Garcinia pedunculata Roxb. ex Buch.-Ham.:
(A) stem, narrowly buttressed and outer bark; (B) outer bark and inner bark with colourless latex; (C) branches, young and mature leaves; (D) male flowering branches; (E) inflorescence with male flowers; (F) fallen male flowers; (G) female flower; (H) inflorescence with female flowers; (I) mature and ripe fruits, showing pericarps and seeds (cross section).

 Photos: Chatchai Ngernsaengsaruay.

 Garcinia pedunculata Roxb. ex Buch.-Ham.

 (Roxburgh, 1814, 

nom. nud.; ex Buchanan-Hamilton, 1827)

Recognition. Garcinia pedunculata is characterised by its dioecious trees up to 25 m tall; branchlets weakly 4-angular; inner bark with colourless latex; leaves obovate, sometimes obovate-oblong or elliptic, 18–31.5 × 7.5–12.5 cm, veinlets scalariform-reticulate; fruits large, subglobose or slightly depressed subglobose, 6–10 × 7–12 cm, shallowly 13–15-lobed and sulcate, concave at both ends, green, turning bright yellow when ripe; flowers 0.8–1.7 cm in diam., fully opened flowers with an apical opening; pedicel thick, 4-sided, up to 4 cm long, widened towards the upper part; sepals and petals pale green or yellowish-green, turning brownish-green after falling off; male flowers in a thyrse of many-flowered; female flowers solitary or in a cyme of 2–5-flowered; stamens numerous, united in a central 4-sided column surrounding a pistillode.

Distribution. India (Assam), Bangladesh (Sylhet), Myanmar, China (Yunnan, Tibet), Vietnam, Laos, Thailand. 

Etymology. The specific epithet pedunculata is a Latin word meaning with the inflorescence supported on a distinct stalk, pedunculate, for this species refers to inflorescences with distinctly pedicellate male and female flowers or a solitary female flower with a distinct peduncle.

 The specific epithet of its synonym, Garcinia planchonii, honours Jules Émile Planchon (1823–1888), a French botanist.

Vernacular Name. Krabue chet tua (กระบือเจ็ดตัว) (Chumphon); Ma kwat (มะกวัด) (Lampang); Ma da lot (มะดะหลอด) [19]; Ma nang (มะนัง) (Phayao); Ma pong (มะป่อง) (Chiang Rai); Ma ping (มะปิง) (Lamphun); Som chao (ส้มเช้า) (Phangnga); Som mong (ส้มโมง) (Kamphaeng Phet); Som kan dan (ส้มกันดาร) (Nakhon Si Thammarat); Som khwai (ส้มควาย) (Chumphon, Ranong).

Uses. Garcinia pedunculata is often cultivated for its fruits. The pericarp, sarcotesta, young shoots and leaves are edible and have a sour taste. Uses of this species are almost the same as G. atroviridis. It can be used as a substitute for G. atroviridis (the author’s observations and interviews). In India and Myanmar, the fruits are eaten raw or cooked, they contain malic acid and are used as a fixative or as a mordant for saffron dye [64,65,66,67]. In India, the timber is said to be useful, after seasoning, for making planks, beams and building purposes [64,67].

 

Conclusions: 

Three names in Garcinia section Brindonia are lectotypified (G. gracilis, G. lanceifolia and G. planchonii), and a new synonym of G. pedunculata, G. planchonii, is presented. Three species in this section (G. atroviridis, G. lanceifolia and G. pedunculata) are described and illustrated, along with information on distribution, specimens examined, habitats and ecology, IUCN conservation status, phenology, etymology, vernacular names and uses. The Garcinia section Brindonia is characterised by stamens in one central mass or column, or in a ring (Garcinia atroviridis); anthers 2-thecous (of 4 pollen sacs); stigma generally completely divided into the same number of rays as there are locules of the ovary, papillate; sepals 4 and petals 4; pistillode absent (except in G. atroviridis and G. pedunculata). This section is one of the best known because several species are cultivated for their edible fruits (e.g., G. atroviridis, G. cowa, G. lanceifolia, G. pedunculata and G. schomburgkiana). The fruits, young shoots and leaves, and flowers are edible and have a sour taste.

 Chatchai Ngernsaengsaruay. 2022. Lectotypifications of Three Names in Garcinia, Synonymy of Garcinia pedunculata and Detailed Descriptions of Three Species in Garcinia Section Brindonia (Clusiaceae). Diversity. 14(7); 556. DOI: 10.3390/d14070556