Bennett Alphonso
IMPORTANT READ BEFORE Make your Grafting Request Order
We are only able to graft twice a year, Late Spring & Late Summer.
- If we receive the order between after September 24th and before May 1st, The trees will be grafted in Spring & should be ready by the end of the year.
- For orders made after May 01st and before of September 24th will be grafted in late Summer and should be ready in the Spring following year, May most likely.
Only Once the small tree has completed two flushes of growth since it was grafted do we consider it ready to leave our nursery.
(Estimated time is 6 to 8 months. Some varieties take longer time to growth)
Originally called 'Douglas Bennett's Golden Alphonse', this mango was reportedly discovered by a Parsee merchant in the 18th century, later recognized in the late 1800s as an Alphonso derivative that was thought superior to its parent. The fruit were larger, brighter colored and more productive than the then-established and beloved Alphonso in south India. The flavor may have been considered superior as well. However, only a few of the Golden Alphonse trees were to be found in the area of Mumbai when Douglas Bennett sent the variety to the US, where it was introduced in south Florida by the USDA in Miami in 1902. This first Bennett Alphonso tree sent from India was planted on the property of John and Florence Haden in the Coconut Grove area of Miami. It was first propagated by George Cellon's nursery.
Among many Indian mango introductions made during the early 20th century, Bennett's Alphonso was one of the few found to actually perform satisfactorily in south Florida. Nonetheless, it did not receive widespread propagation and has been essentially relegated only to the major germplasm collections in Miami-Dade county for many decades.
Based on old archived reports, as well as our own success producing quality regular-Alphonso fruit and observing a very productive Bennett tree in Homestead, we were optimistic about trialing it and grafted Bennett Alphonso in West Palm Beach in 2019 for observation. The tree fruited for us in 2021 and has fruited each year since. We subsequently top-worked a second stump into Bennett Alphonso as well.
The fruit is ovately shaped, looking nearly identical to the regular Alphonso, developing some pinkish red blush at maturity. The flesh is fiberless, soft and yellow. It has a delicious sweet complex and spice-noted flavor. The seed is monoembryonic.
The trees are vigorous growers, and while the foliage resembles regular Alphonso, Bennett's leaves are distinctly more narrow. It appears to be a mid-season ripening variety here.
Flavor: Indian-Alphonso
Country: India