The Mango is widely cultivated for its edible fruit. When ripe, the succulent yellow flesh is enjoyed by people as well as animals.

The Mango is believed to have originated from the monsoon belt of India although this is uncertain. It has been in cultivation for hundreds of years. It can grow up to 30 m tall, with a dense rounded crown of dark green leathery leaves, and rough, shallowly fissured bark. The leaves, when crushed, smell of turpentine.

The flowers are fragrant, held in dense bunches and are greenish yellow to pale cream or even reddish in colour. There are usually two flowering seasons each year. The fruit contains a single large and hard seed that is round to oblong in shape, up to 20 cm long and 10 cm wide. The fruit ripens from green to yellow or orange.

The varieties of mangoes available in our markets today are astonishing. The trees are grown in countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Australia and even Taiwan as an economic crop. These would be the specially bred varieties of Mangifera indica that produce fruits of desired qualities.

This Heritage Tree had a girth of 2.8 m and was likely to have existed here for more than 50 years when it was endorsed in 2017.