Common name: Lemon Drop Mangosteen

Lemon Drop Mangosteen is a fruit-bearing tree native to Central America, with its natural range extending from southern Mexico and the island of Cozumel, south along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, to Panama. It is now introduced and cultivated in other tropical areas, including Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

It may reach up to 30 m (98 ft) in native forests, though under garden conditions it is typically 5 to 10 m (16 to 33 ft) tall, with a straight, slim trunk supporting a densely branched pyramidal crown. The bark is dark brown, smooth, and when wounded, exudes a sticky, yellowish sap.

The leaves are oblong, 6 to 13 cm (2.4 to 5.2 in) long, emerge bright red, become dark glossy green with light green undersides, and feel thick and leathery. They grow in pairs at the ends of branches and remain on the tree year-round.

The flowers are four-petaled, green-white to white, 1.5 to 2 cm (0.6 to 0.8 in) long, male or bisexual on the same plant, and bloom in the dry season, coinciding with winter in its native range. Fertilised flowers develop into small round or egg-shaped fruit, 2.5 to 3 cm (1 to 1.2 in) in diameter. They ripen around three to four months after fruit-set, becoming deep orange or pale yellow. The skin is thin, leathery, and easy to peel, exposing one to two large seeds with thin, whitish pulp.

Edible uses

Fresh fruit - The fruit is eaten fresh out-of-hand by sucking the pulp away from the seed and then discarding it. The pulp, although scant, is refreshing, aromatic and flavoursome, with a slightly sourish taste.

Environmental uses

Home garden tree - It is cultivated as an ornamental and fruit tree in home gardens in its native range for its compact size, shapely form...

Foliage ornamental - ...and lush foliage.

Material uses

Hardwood - The wood is moderately heavy and hard, with grey to pinkish-brown heartwood and has good natural resistance to wood-boring insects. Still, the logs come in diameters too small to be sawn into lumber.

Poles and posts - Instead, the larger-diameter roundwood is used for fence posts...

Tool handles - ...and the small-diameter pieces for tool handles.

Climate

Grows naturally in humid tropical lowland to mid-elevation climates, generally frost-free areas with annual lows of 17 to 25°C, annual highs of 26 to 35°C, annual rainfall of 1300 to 4000 mm and a dry season of 4 months or less.

Growing

New plants are usually started from seed, which quickly loses its viability and should be planted within 1 to 2 days after being removed from the fruit. Seedling trees start producing fruit when around three years old.

It performs well on rich, free-draining clay, loam, and sand soils of a moderately acid to neutral nature, generally with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0, and on sites with full to partial sun exposure.

Problem features

There appear to be no records of it escaping cultivation or naturalisation anywhere. There are otherwise no known risks associated with growing this plant.

Books

• Croat, T. B. 1978, Flora of Barro Colorado Island, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California

• Martin, F. M., et al. 1987, Perennial edible fruits of the tropics : an inventory, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, D.C.

• Morton, J. F. & Dowling, C. F. 1987, Fruits of warm climates, Creative Resources Systems, Winterville, North Carolina

• Record, S. J. & Hess, R. W., 1972, Timbers of the New World, Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut & Arno Press, New York

• Standley, P. C. 1920, Trees and shrubs of Mexico, Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington D.C.