The mango tree is an evergreen tree of varying size and shape. It has a deep taproot and profuse surface roots a stout trunk (90 cm in diameter) and an umbrella-shaped crown that may reach 20-40 m high . The leaves are simple, alternate, borne on 1-12.5 cm long petioles. Leaves are 16-30 cm long x 3-7 cm broad on flowering branches and up to 50 cm long on sterile branches. Young leaves are orange-red and turn shiny dark green on the upper surface when they mature. The edges of the leaves are somewhat wavy. Mango tree flowers are fragrant, pentameric, greenish-white or pinkish, very small (3-5 mm long x 1-1.5 mm broad) and densely borne on 30 cm long, pyramidal panicles . The fruit is a large fleshy drupe of very variable size, shape, colour and taste, with a woody endocarp (the pit), a resinous edible mesocarp and a thick exocarp, the peel. The fruits bear a characteristic beak at the proximal end of the fruit . Green when unripe, the fruit turns orange-reddish as it ripens. The fruit takes between 3 and 6 months to ripen. The seed can be found within the pit.
