Charles F. Springfels was a German immigrant to the United States who had established a jewelry manufacturing business in
Buffalo, New York. When his health began to decline he moved to Florida, where he began experimenting with plants. At his property in
West Palm Beach, Florida a mango seed was planted in 1919, and the tree first fruited in 1925. The fruit were quite large, reaching several pounds in weight, had good eating qualities and shipped well, giving it potential as a commercial variety. The Springfels mango was reportedly a
Haden seedling, which was later supported by a 2005 pedigree analysis. Some literature and physical characteristics had suggested that it had been a cross with
Sandersha, though the analysis did not support this. Charles Springfels originally gave the fruit the name 'Springfels Superior'. Springfels was well-received at a time when few alternatives existed to the Haden cultivar. Charles Springfels himself promoted the fruit heavily, submitting them for display at the Chicago fair and even having a shipment of the fruit received by the
White House in 1939. The variety received some commercial plantings beginning in 1930, but did not gain widespread favor as new cultivars came into existence. A drawback for growers was the susceptibility of Springfels fruit to uneven ripening. The variety continued to be sold as nursery stock however, and is still sold in Florida on a small scale. Springfels trees are planted in the collections of the
USDA's germplasm repository in
Miami, Florida, the University of Florida's Tropical Research and Education Center in
Homestead, Florida, and the Miami-Dade
Fruit and Spice Park, also in Homestead. The original tree still stands in West Palm Beach. == Description ==