M A M 



MAN 



Moiwedu, or Dioecia, and ranks in the natural 

 order of Giit/iJ'crcc. 



The characters arc : that in tlie hermaphro- 

 dite, the calyx is a onc-leafcd peri anthiiun, two - 

 parted: divisions roundish, concave, coriace- 

 ous, coloured, spreading very much, deciduous : 

 the corolla has four roundish petals, concave, 

 i>])rcading very much, subcoriaceous, longer 

 than the calyx : the stamina have numerous 

 bristle-shaped erect filaments, very short, in- 

 serted into the receptacle, ending in oblong, 

 blunt, erect anthers : the pistiiluni is a round- 

 ish, depressed germ : style cylindric, erect, 

 lon2;er than the stamens, permanent : stigma 

 capuate, convex : the pericarpium is a round- 

 ish fleshy berry, very large, acuminate with 

 part of the style, with a coriaceous rind, one- 

 ccllwl : the seeds four, subovate, rugged, distinct 

 from the flesh : male on the same or a diflerent 

 tree : the calyx, corolla, and stamina, as in the 

 hermaphrodite. 



The species is M, Americana, American 

 Mammee. 



It is a tall upright handsome tree, with a 

 thick spreading elegant head, and a long down- 

 right tap-root, which renders it very difficult to 

 transplant : the younger branchlets are qua- 

 drangular : the leaves oval or obovate, quite en- 

 tire, blunt, extremely shining, leathery, firm, 

 with parallel transverse streaks, on short pe- 

 tioles, opposite, from five to eight inches in 

 length : the peduncles one-flowered, short, scat- 

 tered over the stouter branches : the flowers are 

 sweet, white, ,an inch and half in diameter : 

 the fruit roundish, or obsoletely three-cornered 

 or four-cornered according to the number of 

 seeds, one or two of which are frequently abor- 

 tive, varying in size from three to seven inches 

 in diameter, being covered with a double rind : 

 the outer leathery, a line in thickness, tough, 

 brownish yellow, divided by incisures longi- 

 tudinally decussated ; the inner thin, yel- 

 low, adhering strongly to the flesh ; which is 

 firm, bright yellow, has a pleasant singular 

 taste, and a sweet aromatic smell ; but the skin 

 and seeds are very bitter and resinous. It is 

 eaten raw alone, or cut in slices with wine and 

 sugar, or preserved in sugar. It is a native of 

 the Caribbee islands. 



Culture. — These trees may be raised from 

 seeds procured from America, which should be 

 sown in the early spring, in pots filled with 

 light fresh mould, plunging them in a bark hot- 

 bed, keeping the mould moist by occasional 

 waterins:, when they will soon come up. The 

 young plants should be often watered in dry 

 weather. When they have attained some 

 growth, they should be removed with £arth 

 Vol. 11. 



about them, into other pots a little larger, beino- 

 replunged in the hot-bed till fresh rooted, 

 filling up the pots with fresh mould; due shade, 

 air, and water being given. In the autumn they 

 should be renjoved into the stove, where thev 

 must be kept, being shifted into other pots in 

 the following spring; having regard not to over- 

 pot them. 



They may also be raised by placing- the 

 stones of the fruit under the pots upon the tau, 

 more expeditiously than when planted in the 

 mould of the pots. 



They afford a fine variety among other 

 stove plants. 



MANGA. See Mangifera. 



MANGIFERA, a genus containing a plant 

 of the tree exotic kind for the stove. 



It belongs to the class and order Pentandria, 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 TerehintacecB. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a five- 

 parted pcrianthium : divisions lanceolate : the 

 corolla has five lanceolate petals, longer than 

 the calyx : the stamina have five awl-shaped 

 filaments, spreading, the length of the corolla : 

 anthers subcordate : the pistillum is a roundish 

 germ : style filiform, the length of the calyx : 

 stigma simple : the pericarpium is a kidney- 

 form drupe, oblong, gibbous, compressed : the 

 seed is a kernel, oblong, compressed, lanugi- 

 nose. 



The species cultivated is M. Indica, Mango- 

 tree. 



It is a large spreading tree in its native state : 

 the wood is brittle, brown, and used only for 

 indifferent works : the bark becomes rugged by 

 age : the leaves are seven or eight inches lono-, 

 and two or more broad, lanceolate, quite entire, 

 smooth, of a fine shining green, aitd a sweet 

 resinous smell, terminating in points, and hav- 

 ing several transverse parallel opposite ribs ; 

 they are on short petioles, and grow in bunches 

 at the extremity of the branches. The flowers 

 are produced in loose bunches at the end of the 

 branches. The fruit, when fully ripe, is yellow 

 and reddish, replete with a fine agreeable juice, 

 being sometimes as big as a large man's fist. It 

 grows naturally in most parts of India, &c. 



There are several uncultivated varieties. 



Culture.— As the vegetative property of the seed 

 or nuts of this species does not seem to be long 

 preserved, the readiest method to obtain plants, 

 is to have a quantity of the nuts set in tubs of 

 earth in the country where they grow naturally, 

 and when the plants are grown a foot high, to 

 have them shipped, placing a covering over 

 them to defend them from the water and spray 

 of the sea, being careful not to give them toa 

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