Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Mangifera indica L.

Family

Anacardiaceae

Common Names

edible mango, mango, mango tree

Origin

Native to eastern India (i.e. Assam) and Myanmar.

Naturalised Distribution

Naturalised in many parts of northern and eastern Australia (i.e. in the coastal districts of northern New South Wales and eastern Queensland and in the northern parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia).

Also sparingly naturalised on Christmas Island and widely naturalised overseas, including in south-eastern USA (i.e. Florida) and on several islands in the Pacific (e.g. Fiji, French Polynesia, the Galápagos Islands, Guam, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Tonga and Hawaii) and Indian (i.e. La Réunion and Mauritius) Oceans.

Notes

Mango (Mangifera indica) has escaped cultivation and is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. This species is very common in cultivation in northern Australia, where it is grown in home gardens and commercial plantations. It is spread into natural areas by feral pigs and fruit bats that eat the fruit and drop the seeds away from cultivated trees.

In the sub-tropical regions of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, mango (Mangifera indica) is an occasional weed of areas near habitation and is not very invasive. However, in the wet tropics and monsoonal wet/dry tropics of northern Australia it invades rainforests and riparian areas and is a more significant problem.

In northern Queensland, mango (Mangifera indica) is thought to pose a serious environmental risk in the wet tropics region. It is present along roads and powerlines in the wet tropics world heritage area and is listed as a major weed in the Freshwater Creek catchment in the Cairns area. In the Northern Territory it has been recorded growing in conservation areas (e.g. in Howard Springs Nature Park and public reserves along the Upper Mitchell River) and is listed as a low priority weed in aboriginal lands in the Northern Land Council area. It is also spreading from commercial plantations into creeklines in the Kimberley region in northern Western Australia.