5199.000 Garcinia L.

Trees or shrubs with yellow latex. Leaves opposite or sometimes subopposite or whorled; lamina (in ours) opaque. Flowers terminal or axillary, solitary or in few- to many-flowered cymes, dioecious or polygamous. Sepals 4(-5). Petals 4(-5), greenish-white to yellow. Male flowers with 4 fascicles of stamens. Fruit a 1-4-seeded, ± fleshy berry. Seeds arillate.

Derivation of name: after Laurent Garcin, 1683-1761, French-born army physician, naturalist and botanist

Worldwide: 200 species in tropical Old World, especially Asia and southern Africa

Zimbabwe: 3 taxa.