African Mangosteen

 
Setswana Name:  Motsaodi
 
Botanical Name: 

Garcinia livingstonei

 
Family:
 
St. John's Wort Family (Clusiaceae)
 

The African Mangosteen is a water-loving tree,  majestic in appearance and can grow up to 18m. It is easily identifiable at a distance because of the bare, evenly sectioned yellowish-grey stem, contrasting sharply with the very dark, dense crown. The trunk is often multi-stemmed, spreading upwards in a narrow V-formation. The crown always has some rigid branches rising above it at an acute angle.
 
The leathery leaves are shiny and dark green with prominent yellow veining. When bearing fruit, the tree is easily recognized by its pinky-orange, oval, grape-sized fruit.
Old bark is dark grey, but the overall impression is of a light yellow-grey. The bark is sub-divided into small, regular sections.
 
Like the branches, the leaves are usually borne in verticils of three. Young leaves are bright red, while old leaves are very dark green, shiny, leathery, with prominent yellow-green veins on the upper side.
 
The flowers are very small, pale to yellow-green and borne in groups in the leaf axils. Male flowers resemble pincushions and bisexual flowers are green with shiny ovaries. The two sexes are borne on separate trees. The flowers contain abundant nectar.
 
The African Mangosteen is often the home of the Flap-necked Chameleon and the Green Pigeon nests in its dense branch and leaf structure.
 
A liqueur can be distilled from the fruits of the African Mangosteen by soaking them in alcohol and then thickening the extract with sugar syrup. The tree also yields an edible gum.
 
The African Mangosteen is common in the perennial swamp, but rather rare in the dry land areas of Moremi.