The Mango
Botanical
Description
The
family Anacardiaceae, to which the mango belongs, includes a
large number of plants found within the tropics and a few growing in
the Mediterranean region, Japan, and temperate North America. The best
known relatives of the mango are, probably, the cashew (Anacardium occidentale),
widely cultivated in the tropics for its edible fruit; the pistachio
nut (Pistacia vera)
of the Mediterranean region; several species of Spondias which are
grown for their edible fruits; the obnoxious poison ivy (Rhus Toxicodendron)
of the United States; and the so-called pepper-tree, Schinus molle,
familiar in the gardens and streets of southern California.
The cultivated mangos are usually considered as
belonging to a single species, Mangifera
indica.
It has been pointed out by certain botanists, however, that probably
other species have entered into the composition of cultivated forms. C.
L. Blume1 says that they have developed from
many species
scattered through tropical Asia, mainly in the Malay Archipelago. It is
probable that some of the groups or races recognized as horticulturally
distinct represent other species than M. indica, or
hybrids. A species which has been regarded particularly as one of the
ancestors of cultivated forms is M.
laurina.
1
Mus. Lugd. Bat. 1, 190-191.
About forty species of the genus Mangifera
are recognized by botanists, most of them coming from the Malayan
region. Several are cultivated for their fruits, although on a limited
scale. Some of them are perhaps not distinct from M. indica,
as at present recognized. The following species merit consideration in
connection with mango culture (the notes are based mainly on Hooker's
Flora of British India and Blume's Museum Botanicum Lugduno-Batavum):
Mangifera
altissima, Blanco. Pahutan. Indigenous to the Philippine
Islands. Fruit large, closely resembling that of the mango, edible.
M.
cassia,
Jack. Binjai. Wild and cultivated in Malacca, Sumatra, and Java. Fruit
oblong-obovate, reddish white in color, not of good quality.
M.
foetida,
Lour. Bachang. Ambatjang. Distributed throughout the Malay Archipelago.
Fruit variable in form, not compressed, green, with yellow flesh of
disagreeable odor. Not esteemed, although sometimes eaten.
M.
laurina,
Blume. Manga monjet, Manga pari, etc. Wild and cultivated in the Malay
Archipelago. Fruit elliptic-oblique, the size of a plum. Blume
describes numerous varieties grown in Java and other islands. Certainly
very close to M. indica.
M.
odorata,
Griff. Kuwini. Bumbum. Wild in Malacca, cultivated in Java. Fruit
oblong, yellowish green, the flesh yellow, sweet, with no turpentine
flavor. "Often planted by the natives, who eat the fruit."
M.
sylvatica,
Roxb. Tropical Nipal, Sikkim Himalaya, and the Khasia mountains of
India; Andaman Islands. The foliage is like that of the common mango;
the fruit, ovoid, beaked, differs only slightly from that of M. indica.
M.
verticillata, Rob. Bauno. Wild in the southern Philippine
Islands. Fruit "very juicy, rich, subacid, quite aromatic, of excellent
flavor."
M.
zeylanica,
Hook. f. Wild in Ceylon. Closely resembles M. indica, but is considered
by Hooker to differ in habit and foliage, and in the character of the
flowers. Fruit said to be small, edible.
The mango tree is
evergreen. Seedlings on deep rich soils often reach immense size. One
measured in Bahia, Brazil, had a spread of 125 feet and a trunk 25 feet
in circumference. Trees believed to be more than a hundred years old
are common in the Orient; not a few such are to be seen in tropical
America, but the comparatively recent introduction of the mango into
this hemisphere makes old trees less common than in India. Budded or
grafted trees do not grow so large as do seedlings, and are probably
shorter lived.
The crown is sometimes broad and round-topped;
in
other instances it is oval, giving the tree an erect or even slender
form. The leaves are lanceolate, commonly to 12 inches in length,
rigid, deep green, almost glossy, borne upon slender petioles 1 to 4
inches long. Growth is not continuous throughout a long season, but
takes place in frequently recurring periods, each of which is followed
by a period of inactivity. These periods of growth (commonly termed
"flushes" by horticulturists) do not occur at fixed intervals, and in
fact the whole tree does not always break out in new growth at the same
time. It is a common occurrence for one side of the tree to be in
active growth while the other side is dormant. The young leaves are
usually reddish or coppery, and often hang limply from the ends of the
branchlets. After the growth has begun to mature, they become turgid
and soon lose their reddish color.
The small pinkish white
flowers are borne in large panicles at the ends of the branchlets. In
Florida and the West Indies the flowering season extends from December
to April. Sometimes the trees bloom two or three times during the
season. More than 4000 flowers have been counted on a single panicle,
but not all of these are capable of developing into fruits, since the
mango is "polygamous," that is, it produces two kinds of flowers:
perfect ones having both stamens and pistils, and others which are
unisexual. The unisexual flowers, which are staminate, commonly
outnumber the perfect ones; usually, however, there is only one
pollen-bearing stamen in each flower. The perfect blossoms are easily
distinguished from the staminate by the presence in the former of the
small greenish yellow ovary surmounting the white disk in the center.
The
fruit varies greatly in size and character. The smallest kinds are no
larger than good-sized plums, while the largest are 4 or 5 pounds in
weight. The form is oval, heart-shaped, kidney-shaped, round, or long
and slender. The skin is smooth, thicker than that of a peach, commonly
yellow on the surface but varying greatly in color. Some varieties are
delicately colored, deep yellow or apricot with a crimson blush on one
cheek; others are an unattractive green even when ripe. The color
depends to a certain extent on the climate in which the fruit is grown.
The aroma is often spicy and alluring, indicative of the flavor of the
fruit. The flesh is yellow or orange in color, juicy, often fibrous in
seedlings and inferior budded varieties, but in the best sorts entirely
free from fiber and of smooth melting texture. The seed is large and
flattened, its tough, woody husk or outer covering inclosing a white
kernel. The flavor of the mango has been likened to a combination of
apricot and pineapple, yet it cannot be described accurately by any
such comparison. It is rich and luscious in the best varieties, sweet,
but with sufficient acidity and spiciness to prevent its cloying the
palate.
The Mango
Botanical
Description
History and
Distribution
Composition
And Uses Of The Fruit
Climate
And Soil
Cultivation
Propagation
The Mango Flower
And Its Pollination
The
Crop
Pests And
Diseases
Races and
Varieties
Back to
The Mango Page
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