you wont find alot of Jamaican/Trinidad varieties of mangos here like Dou-dous, Black mango, Long mango, Starch mango, mangoteen. they are old local varieties. dou-dous is a fiborous mango, many backyard growers wouldnt bother with it here as there are so many (superior IMO) varieties to choose from.

most West Indians would agree though we have one of the best West Indian mangos available here even though they have fungus problems on the mainland, Julie.

Good to know. Thanks. I won't waste my time on a mango with any fiber.

I miss black mangoes. They are so sweet. Harry mentioned on an older post that he grew one and was not impressed. I wonder how much soil and, I guess, rainfall, affects the flavour of the fruit. I will try my first "mainland" Julie this summer so I will be able to judge whether they taste the same as I remember.

Jamaica and definitely Trinidad are much closer to the equator than Florida, also they have less problems with dew and fungus being on breezy islands while we are on the swampy mainland.

im sure theres a good reason why most Trini varieties arent available either because of inferior fruit or production here. American fruitnuts have been excited over exotic mango varieties around the world for over 100 years, i dont think they were just overlooked.

Floridas original Haden mangos come from Indian Mulgoba seedlings and then later cross bred with Thai varieties

The first introduction of the East Indian Mulgoba mango was made into Florida by the Office of Pomology in 1889.

From the one tree of this early introduction which survived the freeze of 1895 has come the new mango craze that is now at its height among the Florida planters who have suitable soil and no frosts or only slight ones. When this tree, saved from destruction by Prof. Elbridge Gale, of Mangonia, came into fruit it was a revelation to America, to the Western Tropics in fact.

From this one tree thousands of grafted trees are now growing in Florida, and it will not be long before the Mulgoba is for sale on our markets. To meet the demand for the best mangoes in the world, the office has brought young plants of the best varieties from every region where they are grown, and there is now assembled in the green-houses of the department the largest and best selected collection of mangoes in the world. These are being fruited in Florida, and the best will be propagated as rapidly as possible for distribution.

Mulgoba Mango, parent to Haden

Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. David Fairchild, Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society Volume 51, 1938

I was recently told by the owner of Bah's nursery in Davie, FL that Black Mango in Jamaica is the exact same variety as Ice Cream Mango here.

swrancher, they may be related, but I can't imagine that it is the same fruit. The Ice Cream mango is being sold as a "condo" mango. Black mango trees in JA get quite huge. Unless the Ice Cream is grafted on to dwarfing rootstock. I am by no means an expert, but I don't think it is the same tree at all. If they taste the same though, I will be shopping for a couple more ice cream mango trees come this summer.
mangokush, I think you are quite right about why some mangoes from the islands are not popular here. I spent a good part of my childhood picking mango fiber from between my teeth. :)

I'm not sure if Black Mango and Ice Cream mango being one and the same is indeed accurate information, but thought I would pass on what I was told. For what its worth, the owner of Bah's is herself a Jamaican and seemed very sure of the information. Maybe Harry can comment if he has had both types of Mango's.

John,
Doudouce is a pretty good mango flavour wise. But like many Trini mangos there is some fiber. I do not mind the fiber in the doudouce because its very good. It really wouldn't be worth it because of your limited space. If you had a few acres it would be an interesting addition.

Mango kush,
There has been some great mangos that either are from Trinidad or descended from Trini mangos. Julie (also found in Jamaica), Graham, Ice Cream, and Carrie are some great examples of Trini mangos(or descended from) that are popular in Florida. They were not over looked.

swrancher,
Black might be the ice cream because many of the same mangos are found throughout the Caribbean and just given different names. The issue of the size of the tree shouldn't be that determinative of whether it is the same variety because in the Caribbean many of these trees are very old and large. I know of Julie mango trees that are over 40ft tall and 150 years old.

Is there a source for the Doudouce in FL? Now your positive review has kind of made me want it. The tiny size is kind of cool too. I would think I could get a good crop of those on a container tree since the fruit is so small.

I had grafted one a few years ago from a very good fruit from Trinidad but some insect killed the newly grafted plant. This summer I should be getting new budwood and if I do i'll give you one of the plants. My aunt(the one who shipped you the lychees) has a fruiting seedling of a doudouce but the fruit isn't as small as some of the ones from Trinidad.

I wasn't really clear on this in my last post but the budwood i'll be getting this summer is not from my aunts tree but from a good tree from Trinidad.

murahlin, i said most Trini varieties, i know Graham and Ice Cream are Trini, im growing Ice Cream.

Carrie is a Florida cultivar but you are right it has been identified as most likely a Julie seedling, not a Sophie Fry seedling previously reported.

a 40 foot Julie mango tree is crazy, never knew they would ever even approach that size.

have you tasted black mango and Ice Cream to compare them? when i showed my Trini neighbor a Lancetilla mango he kept calling it bellyful

Mango kush,
Those gigantic Julie mango trees are greater than 100 years old. I've seen some with fruit pretty much all year long. The big problem with Trinidad right now is that many people are cutting down the fruit trees (even the really large old ones) in order to build more houses and rental properties. People seem to love to concrete their entire yard and forgo fruit trees. I've include a google map link of where i'm from in Trinidad so you can see how most of it is houses now. A lot of the fruit trees I grew up eating from have been cut down and houses built on them. Carrie might actually be a Sophie Fry seedling but when they did the DNA testing they did not include the Sophie Fry and only the Julie and since Sophie Fry is supposed to be a Julie seedling the Julie showed up as the closest parentage to the Carrie.

Never had black mango but i've had ice cream.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tunapuna, Trinidad

Happiness is sitting in a 40 ft Julie tree during mango season!

Pepperseed is right....I do have both Jamaican Black and Ice Cream mangoes and I did write about both previously. I have been searching for the thread that I wrote about the Black mango but cannot find it. I did say that I would not have purchased it, in hind sight, based upon how it has turned out. Not being from Jamaica, I have no idea what the real Black mango is supposed to be. I bought mine from Maurice Kong (who is Jamaican) and it is a very small and uninteresting mango. The tree is also a small one and a very slow grower......close in size to Ice Cream.....so in that sense, they are similar....at least at my house. The fruit, however, is nothing like each other. Ice Cream has that strong resinous taste and complex flavor, is light color, almost white fleshed while Black has yellow/orange flesh and little or no resinous twang. The fruits are shaped totally different. But who knows, for all I know, maybe what I have was mis-labeled.

As far as the doudouce mango....I have never heard of it. Based on its size and fiber content, I don't think I would be interested in growing it.

Harry

Harry,
Ask your neighbors about the doudouce. I bet they like it.

I am sure my neighbors will say they love it. But, what someone loves because it reminds them of home and their childhood is wonderful, but not necessarily aomething I would grow given what else is available. I'll reserve final judgment until I actually could try it, but it is hard to believe that I would grow this....over say Thai Everbearing....which is about as small as I would ever consider worth planting.......and I even sometimes question it for value given its large seed and limited flesh (of course off season fruit makes Thai Everbearing more attractive). I just don't prefer a fruit that teases you with flavor but delivers little edible flesh. I guess I am just greedy. My neighbor's Mom is diabetic and has to watch sugar intake. She absolutly loves Thai Everbearing.....so I guess if you can't eat much mango, this variety might be worthwhile. Thankfully, I am not limited to eating the sweet delicious flesh of mango until I just get sick of eating too much. Diabetes is not an issue.

Harry