True Name/ Common Name:
 Mango – Mangifera _______ .  Mangos are differentiated among the species line with about 30 species in all.

Description of Look and Flavor:
 If you can imagine a peach combined with a pineapple, with the succulent and smooth texture of a peach and the flavor and juiciness of both, then you might be able to imagine how good a mango can be.  These stone fruits begin green, ranging in size depending on species, and ripe reddish on their sunny side, yellow on the shady.  The stone takes up a much larger portion of the fruit than is common in stone fruit, but the larger varieties of mango still provide plenty of flesh for the mangomaniacs.

Growth Period/ Harvest:  The major harvest times are October and June, but with clever planting schedules and the right species, California can produce mangos nearly year round.

Nutritional Info:
 Mangos have a lot of vitamins in them, but how much depends on when you eat them.  When they are still green the vitamin C content is higher than when they ripen.  Beta carotene ( vitamin A), on the other hand, increases as the fruit ripens.  But at any stage of the game, mangos are a powerhouse for your health and your taste buds.

Other Uses: 
 Just about every part of the mango has been utilized in some sort of remedy or treatment.  Mangos have been used as an anti-viral, anti-parasitic, anti-septic, cough suppressant, contraceptive, aphrodisiac, and a laxative among many other things.

History:
 Mangos are thought to have originated in East India, Burma, and nearby islands and later brought over to Asia.

Interesting Facts or Misnomers:
 Mangos are related to cashews, pistachios, Jamaican plums, poison ivy, and poison oak.  The skin of the mango even has small amounts of the same irritating oil that poison ivy has.  Only the ultra-sensitive will be bothered by it, but burning the wood from a mango tree can cause respiratory problems as it releases the oil into the air.