CHAPTER XIV 

 THE MANGOSTEEN AND ITS RELATIVES 



OF the Guttiferse or Garcinia family few plants are grown for 

 fruit, and the mangosteen is the chief one. It is a tropical family 

 of nearly 400 species and 30 to 40 genera. The family yields 

 drugs, gums, and resins. 



THE MANGOSTEEN (Plate XXIV ) 



(Garcinia Mangostana, L.) 



Since the days when early voyagers returned to Europe with 

 more or less fabulous stories of the wonders of the East, the 

 mangosteen has received unstinted praise. It has been termed 

 the "Queen of Fruits," " the finest fruit in the world/' and 

 Jacobus Bontius, who compared it to nectar and ambrosia, said 

 that it surpassed the golden apples of the Hesperides and was " of 

 all the fruits of the Indies by far the most delicious." Bontius 

 was warranted in his enthusiasm. The combination of beauti- 

 ful coloring with delicate enticing flavor entitles the mangosteen 

 to rank above all other fruits of the Asiatic tropics. Indeed, 

 it is doubtful whether the world possesses another tropical 

 fruit which is its equal. It compares favorably with the most 

 delicately flavored fruits of the Temperate Zone; Europeans 

 and Americans who have been accustomed to the finely flavored 

 peaches, nectarines, and pears of northern orchards find it 

 delicious and unexceptionable, although they may criticize other 

 tropical fruits as being insipid or mawkish. 



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