Many attempts have been made during past years to introduce this
delicious fruit into Queensland, but these always resulted in failure.
True, a certain variety of mangosteen has been successfully grown at
Port Douglas, also on the Lower Burdekin, and rumours of the existence
of the true Java mangosteen (_Garcinia mangostana_) have been received,
but, in nearly every case, they have, on investigation, proved to be
_Garcinia xanthochymus_, or some other species. At the Kamerunga State
Nursery, however, trees of undoubted parentage were successfully raised.
It is said that a thriving young plant, which is unquestionably
_G. mangostana_, is owned by Mr. Banfield, of Dunk Island. The records of
the Kamerunga Nursery show that in October, 1891, a quantity--about
100--of ripe mangosteen fruit was received from the Batavian agency by
the then manager, Mr. Ebenezer Cowley, from which some 600 seeds were
obtained. Of these, only a few germinated. The next mention is of the
distribution, in February, 1892, of six plants to an applicant on the
Mossman, and of two more in May of that year. Since then several young
trees have been raised at the nursery, and one of them, in January,
1913, fruited for the first time for twenty-two years, and is the first
to have done so in this State. Some of the fruit was sent to the
Department of Agriculture and Stock, and proved to be fully equal to
those of Java. A full history of the mangosteen and of its introduction
into Queensland is given in "The Queensland Agricultural Journal"
(vol. xxx., June and July, 1913). The photographs were taken from the
original fruit.
[Illustration: Fruit of Mangosteen.]