From Fairchild
Tropical Botanic Garden
by Noris Ledesma Curator of Tropical Fruit
The History of Mangos in South Florida
As published in the Miami Herald
It has been more than 200 years since mangos arrived in South
Florida. Before 1900, only seedling mangos of turpentine were grown.
Mangos arrived to South Florida when the pirates were surrounding
Florida's coasts, navigating tempestuous waters from Fort Myers down to
Sanibel and Captiva Islands, south to Naples and east to the coveted
Keys. The pirates carried mango seeds, that for generations had
made this peninsula their
home.
Dr. Henry Perrine also attempted to introduce mango seedlings
into Florida in 1833, unfortunately, these trees died from neglect
following Perrine’s death. There are records of turpentine mango
plantings along the Miami River sides in 1862 by Dr. Fletcher. By
that time other trees were grown successfully from seeds. Some using
imported seeds from Cuba.
The first successful introduction of
grafted Indian varieties was made by Dr. David Fairchild; the USDA
Division in 1889, the Mulgoba mango was one of these. None of these
mangos made it except the Mulgoba tree.
A
new mango tree born in Coconut Grove was a ‘Mulgoba’ variety, at Mrs.
Florence Haden’s backyard during that fateful year in the 1910. The
‘Turpentine’ and ‘Mulgoba’ mangos, this unlikely pair -- the rather
pedestrian, fibrous; yet, spicy ‘Turpentine’ from the Caribbean
lowlands and the refined, smooth-fleshed and delicate ‘Mulgoba’ of
India -- joined together and generated a new generation of mangos. The
first discovery was named ‘Haden’, with an eye-stopping display of
reds, yellows and greens overlaid by a sea of white highlights and of
excellent flavor. It was named ‘Haden’ and quickly came to dominate the
fledgling mango industry of Florida.
The
Haden mango became popular early on and was the most popular
commercially grown mango until World War II. The Haden is still a
favorite back yard tree due to its delicious flavor. Other varieties
became more popular to grow commercially because they could withstand
the rigors of shipping, produced fruit more regularly and were more
disease resistant.
‘Haden’ gave rise to the most important
export mango cultivars in the world -- the same cultivars that would
erase dominance in Florida and abroad. From the seeds of ‘Haden’, came
the sweet and spicy ‘Kent’ of Miami; the pastel-hued ‘Keitt’ of
Homestead, and the gorgeous, firm and productive ‘Tommy Atkins’ of Fort
Lauderdale. As to the identity of the fathers, there exists only
conjecture.
Many other Miami varieties are named after the
people who discovered them. The Cushman, a yellow skinned variety was
named after E.L. Cushman who planted the seed in 1936. The sweet
delicious favorite Kent was first planted in 1932 on the property of
Leith Kent.
Commercial production of the fruit now spans six
continents, and here in Florida is where most of the world’s commercial
varieties were developed. The ‘Tommy Atkin’, ‘Keitt’, and ‘Kent’,
remain the most popular commercial varieties in Mexico, all Centeral
America, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil, where the majority of the mangos we
can get at the store in the USA, and they were all selected in Florida
more than 100 years ago.
It used to be the best time of year for
many local mango growers, when there were families that farmed 350
acres of mangoes during the 1970's, the glory days of the Florida
mango. The mango empire stretched over 20 miles, from the outskirts of
Miami to the heart of Homestead. There were groves next to suburban
subdivisions, and groves planted right beside the wilds of the
Everglades.
But today, all that remains is a single five-acre
orchard. Ninety-nine percent of the mangoes in American supermarkets
are imported from South America and the Caribbean -- but they are all
varieties developed here in South Florida.
Mangos can be grown
on the east and west coast of Florida - On the west, from Tampa Bay and
the east coast from Cape Kennedy, or in the frost-free areas districts.
Every
habitant in South Florida should have a mango tree. They are so many
opportunities for mangos in South Florida. Of the six hundred different
varieties grown around the world, they are grown here. Small,
manageable landscape trees that yield an ample harvest of beautiful and
delicious fruit and disease tolerant cultivars provide unprecedented
opportunities for organic production to provide vital nutrition to our
families. Early seasons have been chosen to avoid the summer rains,
superior genetics to ward off the onslaught of disease; and practical
sustainability.
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