Mango plant

Mangifera indica, commonly known as the mango tree, originates from India and has been used in ayurvedic medicine for over 4,000 years. Mango trees are typically grown from seed or from grafted nursery trees. It's also possible to grow them from cuttings. They are evergreen and generally produced off rootstocks that increase the hardiness of the plants. Mango trees begin fruit production in three years and form fruit quickly.

A mango tree can grow quite large, reaching a height of 100 feet or more with a canopy of 35 feet or more. The leaves are elliptic to lanceolate and spirally arranged on the branches. New leaves are a copper color and turn a shiny green once they mature. Some have both stamens and pistils, while others have stamens only.

The tree produces small white flowers that grow in flower clusters. 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.

The mango tree growing zone is limited to tropical climates. Extended exposure to temperatures below 30°F can kill or severely damage a mango tree, as mango tree cold tolerance is low. So, in the U.S. the mango tree growing zones are the southernmost portions of Florida and California plus Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
Mango plant

The uses of mango wood

Mango wood is a low quality timber and the bark of the tree is an important source of tannins for curing leather.

The wood has a wavy grain is hard, fairly heavy, strong and had prominent pores. It has been much used in construction, even though it is not especially durable.

Mango wood is very subject to worms, and is most readily attacked by white ants but good seasoned mango when well painted will resists the sun for a very long time, although it decays rapidly under water.

Mango wood is considered the scared wood of choice for Indian firewalkers, and for religious and symbolic reason, it is the wood of choice in many funeral pyres in India as well.

In Hawaii, people woodworkers use mango wood to make bowls. The gum and barks of the tree are used for medicine.
The uses of mango wood

Introduction to Mango

The mango is believed to have been discovered as long as five to six thousand years in eastern India, Thailand, Myanmar, the Andaman Islands or Malaysia.

Mango is the national fruit of India, where it is known as the 'King of Fruits'. Not only is it one of the most highly prized fruits of South Asia, it is also intimately connected with folklore and legends across many religions.

Mango trees can grow up to 40 m high and are topped with a rounded canopy of foliage. They may live for more than 100 years.

In plantations they are usually grafted onto the roots of smaller trees so that they can't grow as tall.

There are hundreds of mango cultivars distributed throughout the world, of which Asia and India have over 500 and perhaps even 1000. Leaves - long and leathery.

The mango fruit is a large, fleshy drupe, containing an edible mesocarp of varying thickness.

The mesocarp is resinous and highly variable with respect to shape, size, color, presence of fiber and flavour.

They have fibres which 'crackle' when they are crushed. They contain a chemical called mangiferin, or 'Indian Yellow' which was used as a dye.

Flowers - both male and female and are beautifully fragrant. Mango flowers are borne on terminal pyramidal panicles and are glabrous or pubescent; the inflorescene is rigid and erect, up to 30 cm long and is widely branched, usually tertiary, although the final branch is always cymose.

Fruits - the skin may be green, yellow, or red. The fruits have a small point, known as the beak. It is cultivated for its edible orange-colored flesh. The seed within is large and flattened.

No matter its coloring or variety, a ripe, medium size mango provides carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins A, B1, B6 and C, sodium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, iron, phosphorus, potassium, pantothenic acid, and niacin.
Introduction to Mango