ISHS Acta Horticulturae 341: IV International Mango Symposium
MANGO (MANGIFERA INDICA L.) INTRODUCTION AND EVALUATION IN FLORIDA AND ITS IMPACT ON THE WORLD INDUSTRY |
| Authors: | R.J. Knight, R.J. Schnell |
| Abstract:
The first surviving introductions of mango (Mangifera indica L.) germplasm entered Florida from the West Indies, beginning in 1861, when a polyembryonic clone, 'No. 11,' was brought from Cuba. Later, in the 1880s, Pliny Reasoner spent four weeks in Cuba collecting additional material which was established at the Royal Palm Nursery near Bradenton. The first improved Indian cultivar grown here was 'Mulgoba,' introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1889. Subsequently many additional cultivars were brought to Florida from India and fewer from Vietnam, the Philippines, and more recently Thailand and Israel. The mango's breeding system favors outcrossing, thus the proximity of numerous genotypes of disparate geographic origin has made Florida a secondary center of diversity for this crop. 'Haden,' a seedling of 'Mulgoba' that probably arose from cross-pollination with 'Turpentine,' was introduced in 1912 and gave impetus to the establishment of a commercial mango industry here. 'Haden' was exported to Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, Brazil, Venezuela and Israel, among other places, where it has been commercially important. Since 1945 'Haden' has become superseded in trade by the more reliably productive 'Tommy Atkins' (a 'Haden' seedling) and other cultivars. Evaluation and improvement efforts continue in Florida and elsewhere. | |
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