![]() ![]() ![]() It was commonly grown in the East Indies before the earliest visits of the Portuguese who apparently introduced it to West Africa early in the 16th Century and also into Brazil. The Persians are said to have carried it to East Africa about the 10th Century A.D. Buddhist monks are believed to have taken the mango on voyages to Malaya and eastern Asia in the 4th and 5th Centuries B.C. Native to southern Asia, especially eastern India, Burma, and the Andaman Islands, the mango has been cultivated, praised and even revered in its homeland since Ancient times. Within the stone is the starchy seed, monoembryonic (usually single-sprouting) or polyembryonic (usually producing more than one seedling). It may have along one side a beard of short or long fibers clinging to the flesh cavity, or it may be nearly fiberless and free. There is a single, longitudinally ribbed, pale yellowish-white, somewhat woody stone, flattened, oval or kidney-shaped, sometimes rather elongated. It is essentially peach-like but much more fibrous (in some seedlings excessively so-actually "stringy") is extremely juicy, with a flavor range from very sweet to subacid to tart. The flesh ranges from pale-yellow to deep-orange. Some have a "turpentine" odor and flavor, while others are richly and pleasantly fragrant. The skin is leathery, waxy, smooth, fairly thick, aromatic and ranges from light-or dark-green to clear yellow, yellow-orange, yellow and reddish-pink, or more or less blushed with bright-or dark-red or purple-red, with fine yellow, greenish or reddish dots, and thin or thick whitish, gray or purplish bloom, when fully ripe. They range from 2 1/2 to 10 in (6.25-25 cm) in length and from a few ounces to 4 to 5 lbs (1.8-2.26 kg). They may be nearly round, oval, ovoid-oblong, or somewhat kidney-shaped, often with a break at the apex, and are usually more or less lop-sided. There is great variation in the form, size, color and quality of the fruits. Hundreds and even as many as 3,000 to 4,000 small, yellowish or reddish flowers, 25% to 98% male, the rest hermaphroditic, are borne in profuse, showy, erect, pyramidal, branched clusters 2 1/2 to 15 1/2 in (6-40 cm) high. Full-grown leaves may be 4 to 12.5 in (10-32 cm) long and 3/4 to 2 1/8 in (2-5.4 cm) wide. The midrib is pale and conspicuous and the many horizontal veins distinct. The new leaves, appearing periodically and irregularly on a few branches at a time, are yellowish, pink, deep-rose or wine-red, becoming dark-green and glossy above, lighter beneath. Nearly evergreen, alternate leaves are borne mainly in rosettes at the tips of the branches and numerous twigs from which they droop like ribbons on slender petioles 1 to 4 in (2.5-10 cm) long. The tree is long-lived, some specimens being known to be 300 years old and still fruiting. In deep soil, the taproot descends to a depth of 20 ft (6 in), the profuse, wide-spreading, feeder root system also sends down many anchor roots which penetrate for several feet. The mango tree is erect, 30 to 100 ft (roughly 10-30 m) high, with a broad, rounded canopy which may, with age, attain 100 to 125 ft (30-38 m) in width, or a more upright, oval, relatively slender crown. There are dissimilar terms only in certain tribal dialects. In some parts, of Africa, it is called mangou, or mangoro. ![]() The universality of its renown is attested by the wide usage of the name, mango in English and Spanish and, with only slight variations in French (mangot, mangue, manguier), Portuguese (manga, mangueira), and Dutch (manja). The extent to which the mango tree shares some of the characteristics of its relatives will be explained further on. It is a matter of astonishment to many that the luscious mango, Mangifera indica L., one of the most celebrated of tropical fruits, is a member of the family Anacardiaceae–notorious for embracing a number of highly poisonous plants. Does well in containers so can be grown practically anywhere. The fruit itself is sweet and tangy having somewhat of a pineapple flavor. Like the Ice Cream variety they thrive in more arid climates. In Florida it is sought after for its dwarf growing habit. ![]() Julie on a scale of one to ten, Jamaicans would rate a solid twelve. Mango Tree Julie Variety Dwarf Tree Grafted in a 3 Gallon Container. ![]()
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