392 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



anything of the kind could well be, but it is only when the fruit is 

 opened that its real beauty is seen. The rind is thick and tough, 

 and in order to get at the pulp inside, it requires a circular cut with 

 a sharp knife to lift the top half off like a cap, exposing the white 

 segments, five, six, or seven in number, lying loose in the cup. The 

 cut surface of the rind is of a moist delicate pink color and is studded 

 with small yellow points formed by the drops of exuding juice. As 

 one lifts out of this cup, one by one, the delicate segments, which are 

 the size and shape of those of a mandarin orange, the light pink sides 

 of the cup and the veins of white and yellow embedded in it are visible. 

 The separate segments are between snow white and ivory in color, 

 and are covered with a delicate network of fibers, and the side of each 

 segment where it presses against its neighbor is translucent and slightly 

 tinged with pale green. The texture of the mangosteen pulp much 

 resembles that of a well-ripened plum, only it is so delicate that it 

 melts in the mouth like a bit of ice-cream. The flavor is quite in- 

 describably delicious. There is nothing to mar the perfection of this 

 fruit, unless it be that the juice from the rind forms an indelible stain 

 on a white napkin. Even the seeds are partly or wholly lacking, 

 and when present are very thin and small." (Fairchild.) 



Regarding the native home of the mangosteen, the classical 

 Alphonse DeCandolle says : "The species is certainly wild in the 

 forests of the Sunda Islands and of the Malay Peninsula. 

 Among cultivated plants it is one of the most local, both in its 

 origin, habitation, and in cultivation. It belongs, it is true, to 

 one of those families in which the mean area of the species is 

 most restricted." 



The mangosteen is a common dooryard tree in the East 

 Indies, particularly in Java and Sumatra. Much of the fruit 

 sold in the markets comes from scattered trees. There are a 

 few small orchards in Malacca and the Straits Settlements. 

 The largest orchard in the world (containing, however, only 

 300 or 400 trees) is situated near Saigon, in Cochin-China. 

 A few small orchards have been started in Ceylon, but mango- 

 steens are not as abundant in that island as they are in the 

 Malay Archipelago. So far as is known, the tree is not com- 

 monly grown anywhere in India, but there are said to be a few 

 specimens in the Madras Presidency. Mangosteens grown in 



