Morphological Characterization of Inflorescences and Flowers of 200 Mango Varieties (Mangifera indica L.)

摘要

Studies were made on the morphology of the inflorescences and flowers from 200 mango varieties, collected from the mango collection at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Homestead, Florida. Single trees of each cultivar were characterized following international standards, IPGRI (IPGRI, 1980). Evaluations of flowers and inflorescence morphology were done during the months of January to February. Inflorescences were randomly selected from each tree, photographed for evaluation of flower structure. Morphometric variation in the number, percentage, and ratio between hermaphrodite and male flower among the cultivars was observed. The inflorescence’s shape and color also vary between cultivars. In some cultivars, male flowers had a distinctive petal color, while the hermaphrodite flowers did not. This study was based on a single year of data collection and should be considered preliminary in nature. The present investigation will be used as an informational base for future breeding and as a tool for the taxonomic discrimination of varieties of Mangifera indica.