Local Mango

Local Mango

Mangifera indica

Origin: Northern India, Burma, naturalized and grafted in Kenya

The local Mango tree is an evergreen with dense foliage, typically 10-15 m tall but can grow up to 25 m. Its bark is dark brown, cracking with age, while its dark green leaves emit a turpentine scent when crushed. The tree produces small pink-brown flowers pollinated by flies and insects, leading to fleshy fruit measuring 8-15 cm with green-red-yellow skin and a fibrous woody seed.

Uses include firewood, softwood timber, carvings, boat building, food, juice, fodder for goats, bee forage, shade, ornamental purposes, mulch, soil conservation, river-bank stabilization, windbreak, gum, and veterinary medicine. Notably, it’s one of the most vital fruit trees in the tropics, with over a dozen varieties available in Kenya. Eaten when ripe, also used to make fresh juice and jam.

Certain varieties have less fiber and a reduced turpentine smell, such as “Tommy Atkins,” “Ngowe,” and “Apple.” Grafted material is recommended for faster growth and early fruit production. Mango wood is valuable for carvings, especially from old unproductive trees. However, due to its dense shade and high water demand, it doesn’t support undergrowth or crops. The Mango genus, Mangifera, includes several dozen species, with the most well-known being M. odorata, also known as the true “apple” mango, originating from the Indo-Malaysian region.