Induction of somatic embryogenesis in leaf explants from young mangosteen seedlings using different concentrations and combinations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and thidiazuron (TDZ) was investigated. The best medium inducing the formation of globular structures (40 %) was Murashige and Skoog medium with 0.7 mg dm -3 BAP and 0.7 mg dm -3 TDZ. For their further development, subculturing onto different maturation media was carried out, but these globular structures did not develop futher stages of somatic embryogenesis. However, they developed shoots after 90 d of culture on the original medium. Morphological and histological analyses were performed, and showed that the globular structures resembled closely the undifferentiated structure of the mangosteen seed. We propose that the development of mangosteen somatic embryos does not follow the typical course of somatic embryogenesis, but the course of development that is natural for mangosteen seed, where procambium is the only structure observed and there is no differentiated embryo.