Vasilis Teodoridis:
Clusiaceae | Garcinia
3. Garcinia multiflora Champion ex Bentham; Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 3: 310. 1851.
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Garcinia hainanensis Merrill.
Trees; rarely shrubs; (3-)5-15 m tall; 20-40 cm in diam. Bark gray; scabrid. Twigs gray; angled. Petiole 0.6-1.2 cm; leaf blade abaxially glaucous-green or brown when dry; ovate; oblong-ovate; or oblong-obovate; 7-16(-20) x 3-6 cm; thinly leathery; midvein raised abaxially; impressed adaxially; secondary veins 10-15 pairs; slender; joining near leaf margin; tertiary veins and veinlets inconspicuous adaxially; base cuneate or broadly cuneate; margin somewhat recurved; apex acute; acuminate; or obtuse. Plant monoecious. Male flowers sometimes solitary; sometimes in a thyrse 5-7 cm; 2-3 cm in diam.; pedicels 0.8-1.5 cm; sepals 2 large; 2 small; petals orange; obovate; 1-5 x as long as sepals; stamen fascicles stalk 2-3 mm; each fascicle with 50 anthers; anthers aggregated into a head; 2-celled; cells longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode columnar; stigma distinctly peltate; 4-lobed. Female flowers 1-5; staminode fascicles short; stalk ca. 1.5 mm; shorter than pistil; ovary oblong; wider in upper half; 2-loculed; stigma sessile; peltate; large; thick. Mature fruit yellow; ovoid to obovoid; 3-5 x 2.5-3 cm; smooth. Seeds 1 or 2; oblong; 2-2.5 cm. Fl. Jun-Aug; fr. Nov-Dec; flowers and fruit appear occasionally at same time.
Open or dense forests on mountain slopes; valley margins; secondary forests; thickets; (100-)400-1200(-1900) m. Fujian; Guangdong; Guangxi; S Guizhou; Hainan; SW Hunan; Jiangxi; Taiwan; Yunnan [N Vietnam].
This is a widely adaptable species growing in various habitats and at various elevations.
The seeds yield up to 50% oil (seed pulp up to 55% oil). The oil is used for manufacturing soap or as a lubricant for machines. The bark is used as an external medicine to reduce inflammation. The timber is hard; and is used for making furniture; boats; and woodcuts.