February 17, 2025
Wandering Wikipedia: Spirit of ’76 (Mango Cultivar)
This week, I pulled up Wikipedia, and in the spirit of my love for mangoes, this is the random article I chose.
The breed of mangoes named “Spirit of ‘76” originates from south Florida. The original mango tree of this variant was grown on land owned by Laurence Zill of Boynton Beach, Florida.1 LINK TO BLOG HERE. This specific type of mango was reportedly a seedling of the breed Zill, cross pollinated by a bee that had just come off of a mango plant of the Haden variant2, which is one of the most widely cultivated types of mango. It is reported to have earned its name when it fruited during a bicentennial celebration of 1776. Though it did not gain traction commercially in the fruit market due to its soft flesh, it did gain stock as a decorative, “dooryard” tree.
This specific cultivar, or variety of mango, also has reserves in the USDA’s germplasm repository,3 and the Miami-Dade Fruit and Spice Park. This park is a 37-acre park/tourist attraction with over 500 different types of fruit, vegetable, nuts, and spices. Visitors are allowed to sample fallen fruit while they walk around and observe the various species of plant. One fun fact about this specific cultivar of mango is that it is completely fiberless, meaning that it has zero dietary fiber. The fruit itself is described as having an oblong shape, with a rounded base and a rounded apex that sometimes has a small lateral beak (That pointy part that’s sometimes on the bottom side of mangoes).
And that’s all the useless knowledge we’ve got for you this week! Tune in next week for the next edition of “Wandering Wikipedia!”
Footnotes:
1 Which is home to over 250 species of birds.
2 Interestingly, after later scientific tests, this was indeed the combination.
3 The USDA’s Germplasm Repository is a collection of plant and animal genetic resources kept for research and preservation purposes.