Garcinia nervosa ( Miq.) Miq., Ann. Mus. Bot. Ludge.-Bat.

N., Mohanan, P. S., Shameer, Abstract, T. Sabu & L., Garcinia, 2023, Taxonomic revision of Garcinia (Clusiaceae) in India, Rheedea 33 (3), pp. 101-158 : 137-139

Garcinia nervosa ( Miq.) Miq., Ann. Mus. Bot. Ludge.-Bat. 1: 208. 1864; King, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 59: 169. 1890; Merr., Philip. J. Sci. 10: 325. 1915; N.P. Singh in B. D.Sharma & Sanjappa (eds.), Fl. India 3: 121.1993; Hajra et al., Fl. Andaman & Nicobar Isl. 1: 141. 1999. Stalagmitis nervosa Miq., Fl. Ned. Ind. Eerste Bijv. 3: 496. 1861. Neotype (designated here): Malaysia, Perak, 07.1886, King’s Coll.10491 (CAL [ CAL0000005829 !]).

G. andersonii Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 270. 1874; N. G. Nair in Geobios 4: 221.1977. Type: Malaysia , s.d. A. C. Maingay 157. ( K [ K000677676 digital image!])

Garcinia macrophylla T.Anderson ex Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 270. 1874, nom. inval. FiG. 13

Dioecious semi evergreen trees, 10–12 m tall; exudate yellowish; branchlets tetra-angular. Petioles 1–3 cm long, stout, rugous, adaxially ligulate at base; lamina comparatively large, oblong-oblanceolate or oblong-ovate, 20–60 × 8–22 cm, rounded or minutely cordate base, margins revolute, sub-acute or obtuse at apex; midrib and lateral veins bold, raised on both surfaces; lateral veins 17–25 pairs, parallel; exudate canals conspicuous on both surfaces. Staminate flowers pentamerous; 5–8, fascicled on axils of fallen leaf; stamens many in groups of 1–5, around the rudimentary pistil. Pistillate flowers pentamerous, solitary or a few fascicled on axils of fallen leaves, 1.7–2 cm in diam., pedicel 2.5–3.5 cm long, slender; sepals 0.3–0.5 cm long, orbicular, concave, pubescent; petals pale green, 0.8–1.2 cm long, orbicular, concave; staminodes 5-phalagiate, 0.3–0.4 cm, alternating with glandular disc; ovary ovoid, 0.5–1 × 0.4–0.6 cm, 5-locular; stigmas 5-lobed. Berries ovoid or obovoid, 4.5–6 × 3.5–4 cm, yellow with red blotches, with large eccentric mamilla, crowned by persistent 5-lobed stigma. Seeds 2 or 3, ovoid, 1.5–2 × 0.5–0.8 cm, elongated.

Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from October to December; fruiting from December to March.

Habitat: Occur in undisturbed mixed forests, usually on hill slopes, and on alluvial rivers bank; up to 175 m elevation.

Distribution: India, Malaysia to Philippines.

Specimens examined: INDIA, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Nicobar district, South Nicobar,

Arong, Car Nicobar, 31.05.1975, N. G . Nair 2644, 3571, 3572 ( PBL); Camplell ferry, 02.03.1966, K . Thothathri 11336 ( PBL); Ibid., East-West road, 18 km from C Bay, 23.08.1975, N. P . Balakrishnan 3049 ( PBL); Ibid., South Nicobar, 35 km on East-West road, 20.07.1976, N. P . Balakrishnan 3884 ( PBL); North Nicobar, Mildera, Katchal Islands , 03.05.1977, P . Chakraborty 5595 ( PBL); Ibid., School point, 12.04.2010, C . Murugan 28130 ( PBL); South Nicobar, GT. Nicobar, 38 km on North-South road from Campbell Bay , 27.11.1978, N. G . Nair 7110 ( PBL); Ibid., GT. Nicobar, 27 km on East-West road, 20.10.1979, D. K . Hore 7231 ( PBL); Ibid., GT. Nicobar 40 km East-West road, 10.02.1980, R. P . Dwivedi 7859 ( PBL); Ibid., GT. 16 km from East-West road, 15.11.1993, B. K . Sinha 16351 ( PBL); Little Nicobar 17.04.2011, C . Murugan 28493 ( PBL). SINGAPORE: 1894, H. N . Ridley 5966 ( CAL); Bidadari , April 1897, H. N . Ridley 8454 ( CAL). MALAYSIA. Malaya, s.d., A. C . Maingay 157 ( K [ K000677676 digital image!]; Perak, July 1886, King’s coll. 10491 ( CAL); Perak, s.d., Revd. Father Scortechini s.n. ( CAL [ CAL46722 ]); 1882, King’s coll. 3197 ( CAL). PHILIPPINES: Tayyay , Palawan, May 1913, E . D. Merril 9387 ( CAL) .

Uses: Fruit pulp is edible and sour in taste. Ripe fruits cure dysentery (Baruah et al., 2021).

Typification: Miquel (1864) described Garcinia nervosa without assigning a type. We could not locate any original specimens in any herbaria. Hence, a neotype is selected from the later collections available at CAL. Among the various specimens examined, we could locate the specimen ‘King’s collector 10491’ cited by King (1890) at CAL [CAL0000005829!]. This specimen authenticated by King, in the detailed description of the species, is designated here as the neotype of G. nervosa .

Notes: Anderson (1874) in Hooker’s Flora of British India erected G. andersonii Hook.f. , with its distribution in eastern Peninsula. King (1890) treated it as a synonym under G. nervosa . Maheshwari (1964) did not include G. nervosa or G. andersoni in his revision; whereas Nair (1977) included G. andersoni in his report for Car Nicobar Island. Singh (1993) included G. nervosa , with its distribution as Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Dutta et al. (2014) reported G. nervosa as new distributional record for the mainland, but on closer observation of literature and specimens, we found that it was an erroneous identification for G. dulcis (Roxb.) Kurz.

Garcinia pedunculata Roxb. ex Buch.-Ham., Edinburgh J. Sci. 7: 45, t. 1. 1827; Roxb., [Hort. Bengal. 42. 1814, nom. nud.] & Fl. Ind. 2: 625. 1832; G.Don, Gen. Hist. 1: 620. 1831; Wight, Ic. t. 114–115. 1839, Illustr. 1: 125. 1840; F.Voigt, Hort. Suburb. Calc. 86. 1845; Choisy, Mem. Soc. Phys. Geneve 12: 415. 1851; Drury, Useful Pl. India 228. 1858 & Handb. Indian Fl. 1: 140. 1864; Planch. & Triana, Ann. Sic. Nat., Bot. ser. 4. 14: 347. 1860; Laness., Mem. Garcin. 42. 1872; T.Anderson in Hook.f., Brit. India 1: 264. 1874; Prain, Bengal Pl. 1: 247. 1903; Brandis, Indian Trees 49. 1907; Engl., Nat. Pflanzenfam. (ed. 2) 21: 220. 1925; Kanjilal et al., Fl. Assam 1: 107. 1934; Sealy, Kew Bull. 11 (2): 342. 1956; Maheshw., Bull. Bot. Surv. India 6: 119. 1964; Mabb., Taxon 26(5–6): 535. 1977; N.P.Singh, Fl. Jowai 1: 89. 1981; Harid. & R.R.Rao, For. Fl. Meghalaya 1: 108. 1985; A.S.Chauhan in N.P.Singh et al., Fl. Manipur 1: 143. 2000; N.P.Singh in B.D.Sharma & Sanjappa (eds.), Fl. India 3: 121. 1993; Hajra et al., Mat. Fl. Arunachal Pradesh 1: 185. 1996; Kam.P.Singh in Singh et al., Fl. Mizoram 1. 211. 2002; Ngerns., Diversity 14(556): 16. 2022. Lectotype (designated by Maheshwari 1964); India, Goalpara, 10.10.1808. Wallich 4860 (CAL [CAL0000065121!]); isolecto, (K [K001104082 digital image!]). FiG. 14a–c

Dioecious trees, up to 20 m tall; exudate yellow; branches short, spreading with oval crown; branchlets terete, apically quadrangular. Petioles 2–4 cm long, stout, adaxially ligulate at base; lamina obovate, oblong or oblanceolate, 9–30 × 5–15 cm, cuneate at base, margins undulate, acute or obtuse at apex; midrib stout, prominent on both sides; lateral veins 10–30 pairs, obliquely parallel; exudate canals conspicuous on both surfaces. Staminate flowers tetramerous, 8–12 in terminal, trichotomous panicles, c. 1.5 cm across; pedicel 5–6 cm long, slender; sepals pale green, orbicular, 1–1.2 cm across; petals pale yellow, oblong-obovate, 0.9–1.1 × 0.6–0.8 cm; stamens more than 75, in a tetragonous torus, filaments very short; rudimentary pistil broad disciform. Pistillate flowers tetramerous, solitary, terminal, yellow green to pale green, 1.8– 2 cm across; pedicel 2.5–3 cm long, very stout, 4-angled; sepals and petals same as in staminate flowers; staminodes in 4 phalanges; ovary globose, 0.6–0.8 cm in diam., 8–12-locular; stigmas peltate, rays spreading. Berries globose, 7–11 cm in diam., smooth, orange yellow on ripening. Seeds 8–10, ovoid-reniform, 2–3 cm long, in fleshy aril.

Vernacular names: Bor-thekera (Assamese); Tikul, Tikur (Bengali & Hindi); Soh-iyntraw, Dieng-sohdanei (Khasi); Thaipomlein, Vawm-va (Lushai); Ampri-arong (Mikiri); Tabing-asing (Miri & Abor); Heibung (Manipuri).

Flowering & fruiting: Flowering from September to November; fruiting from November to June.

Habitat: Found in tropical mixed forests, up to 915 m elevation.

Distribution: India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Specimens examined: INDIA, Arunachal Pradesh, Papum Pare district, Harjuli, Duphla hills, 23.12.1874, J. L . Lister 112 ( CAL); Lohit district, Parasuram Road, Tezu , NEFA , 03.02.1939, R. N . De (ASSAM) . Assam, Cachar district, Barak Reserve Forest, Bhuban Hill , 22.12.2012, Hussain Ahmed Barbhuiya 987 (ASSAM); Barpetta district , Nityananda , near Khaladia river , 03.08.2015, P. S . Shameer 79677 ( TBGT); Darrang district, Panbari camp, November 1952, G. M . Nath s.n. ( DD); Ibid. , May 1952, G. M . Nath s.n. ( DD); Dibrugarh district, Jakoi Reserve Forest , 27.06.2014, P. S . Shameer 79642 ( TBGT); Golapara district, Golapara , 10.10.1808, Buchanan-Hamilton Francis 1123 ( E [ E00438017 ]) digital image!); Sibsagar district , March 1879, s.coll. s.n. ( CAL [ CAL46451 ]); Lakhimpur district , Jokai Reserve , 100 m, 01.04.1914, U. N . Kanjilal 4083 (ASSAM); Upper Assam, s.d., G . Mann 41 (CAL). Bihar, Sarai Korang , 28.03.1895, s.coll. 11103 ( CAL) . Meghalaya, East Khasi hill district, Near Sohrha , 03.06.1965, Krishnan 42694 (ASSAM) . Nagaland, Naga Hills district , 1882, H . Collett 192 ( CAL) . West Bengal, H. B . Calcutta , s.d., R . Wight s.n. ( K [ K000677592 digital image!]). Without precise locality, s.d., s.coll. s.n. ( MH [ MH63598 ]); Wallich 4860 ( CAL, K [ K000742485 , K000677593 digital image!]); s.d., s.coll. 41 (ASSAM). BENGLADESH, Rajbare , November 1873, J. S . Gamble 1645 A ( MH); Sylhet district, Karimganj , 08.03.1947, Dinanath Paul 22090 (ASSAM); Sylhet , s.d., s.coll. 4860 C ( CAL) . MYANMAR, Thapanhun , 120 m, November 1909, G. E. S . Cubitt 326 A ( CAL); Mergui , March 1911, Meebold 16555 ( CAL) .

Uses: The fruits are edible; fleshy pericarp is used insted of lime or lemon. Dried pericarps of fruits are used to treat dysentery. It is used as root stock for grafting mangosteen. Gum is used as a fixative or as a mordent in saffron dye ( Maheshwari, 1964; Baruah et al., 2021).

Figures

FiG. 13. Neotype of Garcinia nervosa Miq. (Malaysia, Perak, 07.1886, King’s Coll.10491 (CAL [CAL0000005829!]). © The Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, reproduced with permission.

FiG. 14. Species of Garcinia L. in India: a–c. G. pedunculata Roxb. ex Buch.-Ham; D–f. G. pushpangadaniana T.Sabu, N.Mohanan, M.V.Krishnaraj & S.M.Shareef; G–i. G. rubro-echinata Kosterm.; j–l. G. sibeswarii Shameer, J.Sarma, N.Mohanan & A.Begum (a, d, g, j. Staminate flowers; b, e, h, k. Pistillate flowers; c, f, i, l. Fruits; photos by N. Mohanan & P.S. Shameer).