Mangosteens carry the dreaded Med Fly and so are banned for import into the US.
There are some growers here in the US (florida and CA) also there are some in Hawaii (they cannot be shipped to the mainland because Hawaii is infested by the Med Fly)
Apparently they grow one (or try) at the Fullerton Arboretum in Orange County, CA. I read this in the Orange County Register today. Here's an exerpt from an article about the cold spell we've been having.
"Arboretum workers had been worried about the freeze, primarily about the tropical and subtropical plants, like a mangosteen from Southeast Asia, that seemed unlikely to survive even normal winters in Fullerton.
"But here it is, just doing fine," Dyment points out. Arboretum experts learned some lessons from the freeze, he said, including that plants like the mangosteen, which were surrounded by other vegetation, were protected from the cold."
The full article is:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister...le_1551116.php
I think registration is required, but it's free.
So I guess you can grow them in CA, albeit difficult.
Steve
