Description Mango trees grow to 30–40 metres (98–131 feet) tall, with a crown radius of 10–15 m (33–49 ft). The trees are long-lived, as some specimens still fruit after 300 years. In deep soil, the taproot descends to a depth of 6 m (20 ft), with profuse, wide-spreading feeder roots and anchor roots penetrating deeply into the soil.[1] The leaves are evergreen, alternate, simple, 15–35 centimeters (6–14 inches) long, and 6–16 cm (2+1⁄2–6+1⁄2 in) broad; when the leaves are young they are orange-pink, rapidly changing to a dark, glossy red, then dark green as they mature.[1] The flowers are produced in terminal panicles 10–40 cm (4–15+1⁄2 in) long; each flower is small and white with five petals 5–10 millimeters (3⁄16–3⁄8 in) long, with a mild, sweet fragrance.[1] Over 500 varieties of mangoes are known,[1] many of which ripen in summer, while some give a double crop.[11] The fruit takes four to five months from flowering to ripening.[1]
The ripe fruit varies according to cultivar in size, shape, color, sweetness, and eating quality.[1] Depending on the cultivar, fruits are variously yellow, orange, red, or green.[1] The fruit has a single flat, oblong pit that can be fibrous or hairy on the surface and does not separate easily from the pulp.[1] The fruits may be somewhat round, oval, or kidney-shaped, ranging from 5–25 centimeter's (2–10 in) in length and from 140 grams (5 oz) to 2 kilograms (5 lb) in weight per individual fruit.[1] The skin is leather-like, waxy, smooth, and fragrant, with colors ranging from green to yellow, yellow-orange, yellow-red, or blushed with various shades of red, purple, pink, or yellow when fully ripe.
Ripe intact mangoes give off a distinctive resinous, sweet smell.[1] Inside the pit 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) thick is a thin lining covering a single seed, 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) long. Mangoes have recalcitrant seeds which do not survive freezing and drying.[12] Mango trees grow readily from seeds, with germination success highest when seeds are obtained from mature fruits.
