From Fruit to Furniture: The Story Behind Mango Wood Furniture

The mango tree is strong. It’s large. It’s beautiful. It’s exactly what you are picturing right now. A large tree with luscious green leaves bearing sweet yellowish fruit. It’s the perfect tree to not only snap a peaceful picture of, but to admire as a piece of furniture in your living room. Yes, because the great versatile mango tree provides fruit to the hungry, and then comfort to the weary. How does this majestic tree accomplish so many great things in its prosperous life? The story of the mango tree will make you smile because it’s truly the way all of nature’s resources should be appreciated in life.

The Birth of the Mango Tree

The lovely mango tree starts off as a seedling grown in the tropical, frost-free climates of India and South Asia. In fact, India named the mango fruit as its national fruit along with Pakistan and the Philippines. Bangladesh named it as its national tree.

The tree’s popularity is a result of the abundant nutritious fruit it bears, but it’s also because of its distinctive tropical look. The mango tree can quickly grow to as high as 40 meters tall with a radius of up to 10 meters. The leaves turn from an orange-pink colour when it’s young to deep evergreen ones as the tree matures. Several leaves grow on a single branch, and they can grow to as long as 35 centimetres and up to 16 centimetres wide. These leaves are what give this amazing tree its distinct look.

The Bountiful and Beautiful Mango Blossoms

Throughout the mango tree’s life, it will produce small white flowers that give off a sweet smell similar to lily of the valley. From these flowers, small balls emerge. These balls turn into sweet vibrant coloured fruit. While most of the fruit is yellow and orange, in some locations, the fruit can be red or green. It takes approximately three to six months before the fruit is ready for consumption.

Cherishing the Mango Tree Long After Its Production Phase

After a long life bearing fruit, the mango tree becomes baron. Without fruit being produced, many farmers decide to cut down the tree.

Due to the great size of the tree, its wood is strong, and has many traditional wood markings that people admire in real wood furniture. To fully benefit from what the tree can offer, many of the farmers cutting them down sell the wood to furniture makers, who then make beautiful, solid wood tables, cabinets, and more.

Since the mango tree was so hardy, its wood can withstand many years of use. It resists breakage, and damage is easily repaired or admired as part of its natural markings. People that enjoy the rustic, natural look of wood end up using their solid mango wood furniture for as long as possible, which makes the mango tree’s life a very long, productive one long after it’s finished producing its sweet, nutritious, and delicious fruit.

Credits: Mango tree image : By Squam256 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons