Most trees grow up to their mature size and then stay that size, or at least greatly reduce their rate of growth so as to only compensate for damaged parts that need replacing; like (most?) animals, they don’t continue to grow larger and larger until they die.

But what if mangosteen is different?

Mangosteen trees are slow. Notoriously slow. They are also extremely delicate. Yet I’ve heard of a 200-year-old tree in the Philippines that was at least 20 metres wide. Could it be that mangosteen trees simply never stop growing, as most of them don’t survive long enough for it to become an issue? Or is it that people who plant mangosteen trees never see them reach maturity (due to either the tree or the grower dying before then)? If the latter is the case, then it makes sense what they say: You don’t plant a mangosteen tree for yourself; you plant it for your grandchildren.

Just a train of thought that I had recently.