Mangifera L.

Scientific Description

Common name. Mango. Family Anacardiaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Trees; evergreen, or deciduous; laticiferous, or non-laticiferous and without coloured juice; resinous. Leaves cauline. Stem internodes solid. Self supporting, or climbing. Leaves alternate; spiral; ‘herbaceous’; petiolate; aromatic (resinous), or without marked odour; simple. Leaf blades entire; narrowly elliptic to oblong, or oblong to ovate; veins prominent; acute. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire. Leaf anatomy. Hairs glabrescent. Extra-floral nectaries absent. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite, or functionally male and functionally female, or hermaphrodite and functionally male, or hermaphrodite, functionally male, and functionally female. Unisexual flowers present, or absent. Plants hermaphrodite, or monoecious, or andromonoecious, or polygamomonoecious. Male flowers with pistillodes (4 or 5 rudimentary minute style-like carpels).

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in panicles. The terminal inflorescence unit racemose. Inflorescences terminal, or axillary; inflorescence tomentose to almost glabrous. Flowers pedicellate (articulate); bracteate (ovate or triangular); ebracteolate; regular; 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic, or pentacyclic. Free hypanthium present (short), or absent. Hypogynous disk present; intrastaminal; annular. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 3–5, or 6–10; 1 -whorled, or 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 4–5; 1 -whorled; polysepalous, or gamosepalous (usually); lobed; imbricate; regular. Calyx lobes ovate. Corolla present; 4–5; 1 -whorled; polypetalous; imbricate; white (often tinged purple). Petals oblong to ovate, or oblong to obovate. Corolla members entire. Fertile stamens present, or absent. Androecial members definite in number; free of the perianth; staminodia much smaller than the stamens; free of one another (usually), or coherent; when coherent 1 - adelphous (the filaments sometimes basally connate); 1 -whorled, or 2 -whorled. Androecium including staminodes (minute). Staminodes when present, 1–9. Stamens 1–2 (usually 1); usually inside the disc. Anthers dorsifixed; versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Pollen shed as single grains. Fertile gynoecium present, or absent. Gynoecium 1 carpelled, or 3 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious, or synstylovarious; superior. Ovary unilocular; 1 locular; sessile. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; lateral (or excentric). Stigmas 1. Placentation when unilocular parietal, or basal. Ovules in the single cavity 1; pendulous, or ascending; apotropous; with ventral raphe, or with dorsal raphe; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit fleshy; indehiscent; a drupe; 1 seeded (usually). Seeds non-endospermic. Cotyledons 2. Embryo curved.

Economic uses, etc. Commercially important fruits — mangoes.

Etymology. From mangas or mango (vernacular name of the fruit) and the Latin ferre (to bear), in reference to the plant that bears the mango.