It is said that queen Victoria coveted it so much that she offered a massive sum to anyone that could obtain this fruit for her and is probably the origin of its nickname.
Mangosteen really is beautiful and I would give my left...well my left anything to taste it!
The part that is eaten is the white arils found inside the bitter purple rind. The taste is said to be indescribable, the perfect balance of tart and sweet with a silky melting texture.
I am so sorry fellow South Africans but I really doubt this one could be grown anywhere in our country outside. If you want this it will mean indoors or a climate controlled greenhouse.
It is an extremely cold sensitive 'ultra tropical' temperatures below 5C can damage even mature plants. It also requires year round high humidity and takes at least 8years to fruit from seed.
Like many tropicals it is intolerant of alkaline soils and likes high temperatures up to 38C.
Remember seeds are recalcitrant so if they dry out they die. To travel they must be packed in a moist mold resistant medium like cocopeat and planted asap.
Of course all this should have scared me off but it's the freaking queen of fruit people! What self respecting fruit collector wouldn't at least try:) casualties have been high with more than half my original seedlings shuffling off this mortal coil but I shall perservere.
Here are some of my own pics:
The seeds.
I don't really think there's such a thing as 'dwarf mangosteen but that's what the seller sent. The root is already out.
Here you can see the sprouts just popping out. It needs to be buried very shallow and kept moist
The sprout and Ahem... I have to admit it's very phallic for a queen!
About a month old.
The new growth always flushes this pretty red. Imagine purple fruit on a green leafed backdrop highlighted by this red flush, who needs flowers:)
Another month later so +-2months old
Top view of the leaves
Our capacity to provide pharmaceutical discovery services across the entire spectrum of the drug discovery process has assisted many of our esteemed clients in reaching their R&D goals. α-mangostin
ReplyDelete