The 'Cushman' mango is a

mango cultivar The following is a list of some prominent mango cultivars. Worldwide, hundreds of mango cultivars are known, with over 1000 varieties in India. Most commercial cultivars belong to '' Mangifera indica'', while a few commercial varieties grown in S ...

that originated in

south Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of ...

. The variety had limited to no commercial application but has been sold as a dooryard tree.

History

The original tree grew from a seed planted in 1936 on the property of E. L. Cushman, in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. For many decades afterward its parentage was unknown, but a 2005 pedigree analysis suggested that the cultivar was likely a cross between Haden and Amini. The fruit was recognized as having excellent eating quality, but the trees were poor bearers making the cultivar undesirable for commercial production. Cushman was also known as the 'Big Yellow'. Cushman trees are planted in the collections of the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

's germplasm repository in Miami, Florida, the University of Florida's Tropical Research and Education Center in

Homestead, Florida Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. The population was 80,737 as of the 2020 census. Homestead is primarily a Miami s ...

, 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 the heart of Redland, Florida, and is the only botanical garden of its kind in the United States. This park is operated b ...

, also in Homestead.

Description

The fruit is round in appearance and yellow when ripe, often looking more like a grapefruit than a mango. The flesh is pale yellow, completely fiberless, and has a sweet, rich flavor and aroma. The fruit averages over a pound in weight, getting up to 2 pounds, and contains a

monoembryonic Monoembryony is the emergence of one and only one seedling from a seed. A seed giving two or more seedlings is polyembryonic. Some of the nuclear cells surrounding the embryo sac In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to a ...

seed. The flesh has a distinctive characteristic in that when sliced open, Cushman fruit have a visible orange "halo" outlining the flesh closest to the skin. The fruit mature from July to August in Florida. The trees are vigorous growers with spreading canopies of medium density.

References

External links

Video description of 'Cushman' by Dr. Jonathan Crane of the University of Florida
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cushman (Mango) Mango cultivars Flora of Florida