Mangifera sylvatica

Mangifera sylvatica, also known as the Himalayan mango, pickling mango, or Nepal mango, is a species of plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China (Yunnan), India (Assam, Darjeeling, Sikkim), Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand. It is a tree 6–20 m (20–66 ft) tall. The fruit measures 6 cm–8 cm × 4 cm–5 cm (2.4 in–3.1 in × 1.6 in–2.0 in).

Description

A large tree. It grows 20-45 m tall. The leaves are stiff. They are 15-20 cm long and 3-6 cm wide. The flowers are yellow, pink or red. They do not have an odour. They are in groups at the ends of branches. The fruit are yellow. They are 8-16 cm long. There are both sweet and tart kinds. The fruit hang on the tree in winter.

Edible Uses

Unripe fruit are sliced and used for tarts, pickles, jellies, and curries—they are acidic. Ripe fruit are eaten raw like mangoes.

Traditional Uses

The unripe fruit are used for tarts, pickles and jellies. They are used in curries. They are sliced. They are acidic. The ripe fruit are eaten raw like mangoes.

Medicinal Uses

The dried fruit is used medicinally.

Distribution

A tropical plant. They grow in the humid tropics. It is native to the eastern Himalayas. It grows in forests along streams in southern China. In Sikkim it grows between 500-1,000 m above sea level. In Yunnan.

Where It Grows

Andamans, Asia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Northeastern India, SE Asia, Sikkim, Thailand,

Other Uses

The wood is a source of 'machang' timber. We do not have a specific description for the wood of this speices, but a general description of machang timber is as follows:- The heartwood is light brown or light grey brown, occasionally with chocolate or black streaky coreword; it is not clearly differentiated from the wide band of sapwood. The texture is moderately coarse to coarse and even; the grain interlocked and wavy. The wood is moderately heavy to heavy; moderately hard; not durable under exposed conditions, being susceptible to fungi, dry wood borers and termites. The wood seasons somewhat rapidly with only a slight risk of checking or distortion; once dry it is moderately stable in service. It can be worked with ordinary tools, there is a slight difficulty resawing when green, but is easy when dry; planing is easy but the surface produced is moderately smooth with grain pick-up on the radial side; nailing and screwing is excellent; gluing is correct. The wood is suitable for light construction, turnery, flooring, interior panelling, boxes, crates, pallets and plywood manufacture. Corewood can be used for decorative veneer production.

Production

In SE Asia plants flower January to March and September to October and fruit May to June and December to January. A tree can produce 50 kg of fruit a year.

Notes

There are about 40 Mangifera species.

Also Known As

Aanp, Amtsukuli, Arem titi, Ban-am, Bon am, Chetchetsu, Chuchche aarp, Chuche anp, Chuckey amp, Chuchiam, Dong lao miu, Gam thaihai, Haibamin, Hnamba chi, Jangali aamp, Jangli, Jat aam, Jharbuo aam, Jungali amp, Kathorkung, Kho-maeng-saa, Lagulamjio, Lakshi am, Lakshmi am, Mak-mong-sang-yip, Mamen, Mamnang ki tai, Mamuang paep, Mong wo, Motum toggu, Siminthayet, Sinna-thayet, Som muang kluai, Tagol, Tagung, Taw-thayet, Thaichual, Thaiju mairong, Uriaam, Uri am, Vekek, Yumrang kedi

References (45)

• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 354
• Angami, A., et al, 2006, Status and potential of wild edible plants of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 5(4) October 2006, pp 541-550
• BARC, 2016, State of Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council.
• Chayamarit, K., 1994, Preliminary Checklist of the Family Anacardiaceae in Thailand. Thai For. Bull. 22:1-25
• Cao, Y., et al, 2020, Ethnobotanical study on wild edible plants used by three trans-boundary ethnic groups in Jiangcheng County, Pu’er, Southwest China. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2020) 16:66

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