Manako ( mango )

Manako (Hawaiian for mango)

Manako is a fig currently under evaluation, distinguished by a rich and unusual flavor profile that suggests ripe mango layered with bright berry notes. Beyond its taste, what truly sets this fig apart is its history. The tree is believed to have been planted by Samuel Thomas Alexander, or possibly grown from seed collected from one of his original plantings around 1890. The mother tree is estimated to be well over a century old and continues to bear fruit today.

Samuel T. Alexander was a prominent industrialist, agricultural innovator, and co-founder of Alexander & Baldwin, a company that played a major role in shaping Hawai‘i’s early sugar industry. Deeply interested in agriculture and botany, Alexander traveled widely throughout Hawai‘i, Europe, and China during the late 19th century, a time when plant exploration was both adventurous and scientifically significant. Wherever he traveled, he sought out useful, rare, and curious plants, often sending seeds and cuttings back to be grown on his properties.

Alexander eventually established a vast 1,700-acre estate in Happy Valley, California, where he experimented with acclimating plants from diverse climates and regions. The Manako fig tree resides on this property, likely introduced as part of his personal effort to collect, test, and preserve botanical specimens from around the world. Whether intentionally planted or grown from a chance seedling, the tree represents Alexander’s hands-on approach to horticulture and his belief in the long-term value of agricultural experimentation.

Today, Manako stands as a living artifact of that era—an heirloom fig tied not only to exceptional flavor, but also to a man whose curiosity, global perspective, and dedication to agriculture left a lasting imprint on the landscape. The continued productivity of this tree more than a hundred years later speaks to both the resilience of the variety and the legacy of the man who may have first brought it to California soil.