ABSTRACT

The genus Mangifera consists of 69 species restricted in their native range to tropical Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia. Wild members of the Mangifera genus occur in Borneo, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, southern China and India. The greatest diversity, with approximately 28 species, occurs in western Malaysia, especially in peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra, a region considered to be the centre of diversity of the genus. It is thought that the mango started its spread from its home in the Far East to Tropical Africa, the islands of the Indian Ocean and the West Indies and Tropical America (Popenoe, 1924; Fairchild, 1951).