The 'Duncan' mango is a named
mango cultivar
The following is a list of some prominent mango cultivars. Worldwide, hundreds of mango cultivars are known.
Most commercial cultivars belong to ''Mangifera indica'', while a few commercial varieties grown in Southeast Asia belong to other ''Man ...
that originated in
south Florida
South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
and was later patented.
History
The original tree was grown from a seed planted in 1956 by David Sturrock of
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...
. Sturrock had written in 1969 that it had been a cross of
Edward
Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...
and
Pico
Pico may refer to:
Places The Moon
* Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin
Portugal
* Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde
* Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...
, but a 2005 pedigree analysis indicated that
Nam Doc Mai
The Nam Dok Mai mango (, also spelled Nam Doc Mai) is a mango cultivar which originated in Thailand. It is the most popular mango variety in Thailand, and is grown commercially in Australia and Colombia as well, albeit as a minor variety.
The N ...
was the likely parent. This explanation is challenging because Nam Doc Mai was not introduced into Florida until the 1970s, and that Duncan is
monoembryonic while Nam Doc Mai is
polyembryonic. The tree first fruited in 1960 and the new variety was named after Ralph V. Duncan of
Boynton Beach, Florida
Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is situated about north of Miami. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded a population of 80,380. Boynton Beach is located in the Mi ...
, who was a flood control district supervisor that had provided maps for a book written by Sturrock. 'Duncan' was later patented by Sturrock. The variety was recognized for its excellent eating quality and handling characteristics, as well as its production, and later became a nursery stock tree in Florida.
Duncan trees are planted in the collections of the
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
's germplasm repository in
Miami, Florida
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, the University of Florida's Tropical Research and Education Center in
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the United States, U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and ...
, and the Miami-Dade
Fruit and Spice Park
The Fruit & Spice Park, formally known as the Preston B. Bird/Mary Heinlein Fruit & Spice Park, is a 37-acre park located in Redland, Florida, and it is the only botanical garden of its kind in the United States. This park is operated by Miami-D ...
, also in Homestead.
Description
The fruit is oblong in shape and turns yellow when ripe, averaging slightly over a pound in weight. Most of the fruit on the tree are of uniform size and shape. The orange flesh is fiberless, has a sweet and mild flavor, and contains a
monoembryonic seed. Duncan fruit typically reach maturity in July in Florida.
The trees are vigorous growers with dense canopies. Both the trees and their fruit have very good disease resistance qualities.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan (Mango)
Mango cultivars
Flora of Florida
Agriculture in Florida