Mangifera altissima Blanco

Erect, evergreen tree, 12-35(-54) m tall, trunk 35-80(-100) cm diameter, with angular branchlets and prominent leaf scars. Leaves elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, (5-)15-43 cm x 2-11 cm, coriaceous, glabrous, dark green above; base cuneate, margins entire; apex acuminate, mucronate or obtuse; midrib and nerves prominent, veins reticulate; petiole 1.5-5(-9) cm long. Inflorescences terminal or axillary panicles, crowded at apex of twigs, 10-25 cm long, glabrescent; pedicels up to ca. 1 mm long; flowers white or creamy white, in groups of 4-5 on secondary branches, male or bisexual; bracts triangular; calyx 4-lobed, lobes ovate-oblong, 1.5-3 mm long, glabrescent, persistent; petals 4, ovate-oblong, 3-5 mm long, glabrous; disk 4-lobed and papillose; stamens 5, 1 fertile, free, 2-3 mm long; style 2-3 mm long, excentric. Fruit an ellipsoid to ovoid drupe, 5-8 cm x 3-6 cm, weight about 40 g, green turning yellowish; peel tender, up to 1.7 mm thick; flesh slightly fibrous, white, resinous, acid to slightly sweet. Stone 4.2-4.8 cm x 2.3-2.7 cm x 0.8-1.5 cm, sparsely fibrous.

In New Guinea the tree flowers in November-December. In the Philippines main flowering is early in the dry season (October-November to January-February), but flowers and fruits can be found the whole year round. Male and bisexual flowers both occur in the same inflorescence. Fruits are harvestable about 70 days from full bloom and ripen within 6 days.

On a wide range of soil types.

M. altissima grows chiefly in primary, lowland, inland forest, sometimes in coastal forest. M. altissima occurs in wet, evergreen forest at low and medium altitudes, but nowhere abundant. In the Philippines it thrives in places with a distinct wet and dry season on a wide range of soil types.

M. altissima is usually propagated by seed, although it can be readily propagated by cleft grafting, using either seedlings of mango or M. altissima as a rootstock. Grafted M. altissima trees remain much smaller and have a more compact crown than seedling trees.

Unlike the mango, flowering in M. altissima cannot be brought about by foliar spraying with potassium nitrate.

Pests: Typical mango pests such as leaf hoppers, tip borers and seed borers do not seem to affect M. altissima.

Food: In the Philippines the immature fruit is eaten fresh, pickled or mixed with vegetables. In Indonesia the ripe fruits are eaten or used to prepare marmalade; the seeds are salted and pounded to obtain an edible meal. Timber: The wood is used for general construction work, sheeting, ceilings, door panels, flooring, furniture, and cabinet work, veneer and plywood, and gunstocks, but is not very durable.