Alice (mango)

Display of ‘Alice’ mangoes at the Redland Summer Fruit Festival held at the Fruit and Spice Park in Homestead, Florida on 21 June 2008.

The 'Alice' mango is a named mango cultivar that originated in south Florida.

History

The original tree was reportedly a seedling of the 'Saigon' mango planted in 1935^[1] on the property of Fred Herman in South Miami, Florida, and was named after his wife Alice Herman. Some have speculated that 'Alice' may have been a hybrid between 'Saigon' and an Indian race mango. The tree first fruited in 1940, with its name being published in 1950.

While the fruit was considered of good quality, 'Alice' did not become commercially adapted primarily due to consistently light crops.

An 'Alice' tree is part of the USDA's germplasm collection in Miami, Florida,^[2] and an example is also planted at the University of Florida's Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, Florida.^[3]

Description

The fruit is of oval shape, averaging under a pound in weight at maturity. It has smooth skin that turns yellow orange at maturity with some red blush. The apex is rounded and contains no beak. The flesh has a strong aroma, and is fiberless, rich, and sweet. It contains a monoembryonic seed. In Florida the fruit usually ripens from late June to July.^[4]

The tree is a vigorous grower and has a spreading canopy.

References

1. R. Bruce Ledin (1954). "Mango Varieties" (PDF) (67). Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc: 284–290.
2. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1723123 USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN). [Online Database] National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
3. http://trec.ifas.ufl.edu/crane/pdfs/TREC-Fruit-Collections.pdf
4. Campbell, Richard J. (1992). A Guide to Mangos in Florida. Fairchild Tropical Garden. p. 29. ISBN 0-9632264-0-1.