murahilin, here's the old article on the Merritt Island mangoes:
http://centralfloridapalms.com/archived/sep2003/mimango.htmFor those who are unfamiliar, Merritt Island is the northernmost part of Florida where mangoes are grown on any kind of commercial scale. They are specifically aided on the southern part of the island by being sandwiched between the Indian and Banana rivers, which has helped protect them some from the periodic freezes we get in Florida.
The grove profiled in the article is the Ensey family grove; there are a number of other growers on the island but the Enseys were the source for most of the cultivars that originated on the island.
link to the cultivar descriptions:
http://centralfloridapalms.com/fruit/mango/mimangovar.htmThis list doesn't include all of their varieties but it has most; they also have plenty of the established old varieties as well that we're all familiar with.
Of those, most are largely unknown outside of Merritt Island, save for Osteen, which became something of a commercial success. The 'Sunset' that originated from the Enseys is not the 'Sunset' that was promoted by Fairchild at the 2010 Mango Festival; its a larger mango with pretty good flavor. The Fruit and Spice Park's 'Sunset' tree is an Ensey Sunset (sometimes described as 'Indian Sunset').
Ed Ensey (man profiled in the article) died in 2008. Fortunately the family seemed committed to keeping the grove in operation and they were still selling in 2009. Haven't been there since that summer though, so perhaps some of the board members from the area can confirm if they are still selling.
Most if not all of the cultivars they have are worth preserving for future generations, and I'd certainly be interesting in growing some of them, so maybe the family would be willing to allow some budwood distributed.
