Wild Mangoes in Mainland Southeast Asia:

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  • Wild mangoes in Mainland Southeast Asia: their local names, uses and growing environments
  • Their Local Names, Uses and Growing Environments

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Abstract

Wild Mangifera species were explored in northeast Thailand, central and northern Laos and northwest Vietnam, in which Tai language families settle. Their morphological characteristics, local names and uses were recorded, and their growing environments were compared. We observed 260 wild Mangifera trees, and we classified them into four groups based on morphological characteristics of leaves and tree shape. Broad-leaf type was distributed in flatland of Thailand and Laos and called muang paa or muang khan, respectively. Slender-leaf type was distributed in mountainous areas of Vietnam and Laos, and was called muang khai in central Laos, muang kaeo noi in northern Laos and moi or mak chai in Vietnam. Long-leaf type grew only in the Laotian forests, and names were not consistent. Type with leaves similar to those of cultivated mango was found constantly, and was called by several names in each area. Muang kalon have been explained as M. caloneura, while some of the trees were possibly considered to be M. indica, indicating that the recognition of “wild edible mango” could have drifted from M. caloneura to the old local varieties of M. indica. The leaves of muang kasoo in Laos were used as food and its bark as dye and medicine, while most wild Mangifera were mainly used for fruits and woods. In the flatland of Thailand and Laos, trees often grew in croplands. They were assumed to have been conserved from the original forest. In the mountainous areas of Laos, the villagers used wild Mangifera trees in the forest, while they had no intention to conserve useful trees. In northwest Vietnam, wild Mangifera trees were transplanted into the villages before the forest had been reclaimed for crop fields, possibly implying a first step in the domestication of wild fruit trees.

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