Name of an evergreen, long-lived, tropical fruiting tree (fig.), that can grow well over thirty meters tall and has the Latin botanical name Mangifera indica, with the latter part referring to its area of origin, i.e. the Indian Subcontinent. The perennial trees are broad and hemispherical in shape and have leaves that are simple, deep green, up to 30 centimetres long and 7 centimetres wide, oblong-elliptic to lanceolate in shape, with entire and slightly undulate margins, with a noticeable midrib that is yellow and tend to droop downwards slightly, whilst young leaves are coppery reddish-brown to bronze in colour (fig.). The name mango is also used to refer to its fruit. The genus Mangifera consists of numerous species that are listed in the family Anacardiaceae and are a relative to the in Thailand growing Plum Mango which in Thai is known as maprahng. The different mango trees yield different kinds of fruit, that are usually categorized by taste and texture, which can vary from sour to sweet, and from hard to soft. A common way of eating sweet and soft mangos is the so-called hedgehog style, in which the sides of the fruit are cut off lengthwise, along the large flat pit; the flesh of fruit of each side is then sliced horizontally and vertically, while leaving it on the skin, which is then folded back, forming a humpback reminiscent of a hedgehog. Other, hard and sour mangos are usually sliced into thin slivers, eaten by dipping them in a mixture of sugar, salt and dry powdered chili. Thailand total area of harvested mango trees is about 285,000 hectares, putting them third on the world's list of harvesters, after India and China, though in tonnage they come in only fifth, with an annual production of 1,800,000 tonnes. In ancient Burma, palace staircases were typically adorned with mango-shaped ornaments (fig.), referring to the fragility of young mangoes that are easily brown from the tree and expire, thus reminding ascending kings of their passing position of power. In Thai called ma muang or amph if used as a prefix, as in as in amphawan, i.e. ‘mango orchard’ or ‘mango forest’. See also Big Mango, Mahajanaka, wan, as well as POSTAGE STAMP. 回