The 'Kent' 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 ...

History

The original tree, a seedling of the

Brooks Brooks may refer to: * Brook (small stream) Places Antarctica * Cape Brooks Canada *Brooks, Alberta United Kingdom * Brooks, Cornwall * Brooks, Powys, a location United States * Brooks, Alabama * Brooks, Arkansas * Brooks, California *Brooks, ...

cultivar started in September 1932, was planted on January 1, 1933 on the property of Leith D. Kent in

Coconut Grove, Florida Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as "The Grove", is an affluent and the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune ...

. Kent was reportedly a cross between

and Haden, which a 2005 pedigree analysis supported. The tree first bore fruit in 1938. It was selected, named, and described in 1945. Kent quickly rose in popularity in Florida for its excellent taste and lack of fiber. The tree was susceptible to

anthracnose A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...

, however, and the fruit's poor shelf life limited its commercial scale in Florida. Kent is grown on a limited commercial scale outside of the United States, particularly in Latin America. Today it is still widely grown as a nursery stock tree for home growing in Florida, where it remains popular. Kent is a parent of several other Florida mangoes, including

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...

and possibly

Gold Nugget A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of Native metal, native gold. Watercourses often concentrate nuggets and finer gold in placer deposit, placers. Nuggets are recovered by placer mining, but they are also found in residual deposits wher ...

and

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Kent 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, 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. The original tree still stands in Coconut Grove. In

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Kent is the main imported

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

, with imports coming mainly from South America and Africa.

Description

The tree is a vigorous grower, with a compact canopy and an upright growth habit. It can get quite tall (in excess of ) if allowed to do so. Kent trees generally produce a large crop. The fruit typically weighs , is of oval shape, and has a rich, sweet flavor. It will usually turn a greenish-yellow color with some red blush as it matures. The seed is monoembryonic and will have a tendency to sprout in the fruit if left on the tree too long when ripening. The fruit typically matures from July to August in Florida, sometimes into September.

References

External links

description of Kent, Dr. Jonathan Crane, University of Florida
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent (Mango) Mango cultivars Agriculture in Florida