JOURNAL 



OF THE 



WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Vol. 9 OCTOBER 4, 1919 No. 16 



BOTANY. — The anay, a new edible-fruited relative of the avocado. 

 S. F. Blake, Bureau of Plant Industry. 



One of the most interesting results of the explorations in 

 search of new and desirable avocados and related fruits, carried 

 on in Central America for several years past by Wilson Popenoe 

 of the Office of Seed and Plant Introduction, is the discovery 

 of the anay. Guided by the reports of natives, Mr. Popenoe 

 first met with the species on September 23, 19 16, when two 

 trees were found at the entrance to the Finca El Compromiso, 

 half a mile from Mazatenango, Guatemala, at an elevation of 

 about 365 meters. Other trees were known to the natives in 

 the near-by forest, and were visited by them at the proper 

 season to secure the fruit. The two trees seen by Mr. Popenoe 

 had been left to provide shade for young coffee trees when the 

 forest was cleared. They were about 22 meters high, with the 

 tall and slender trunk bare of branches for a considerable dis- 

 tance, and an open rounded crown. On this occasion Mr. 

 Popenoe, being unable to find a native venturesome enough to 

 climb the trees, had to content himself with pieces of the bark 

 and with some of the fruits, which were lying in profusion on 

 the ground. He also secured leaves from sucker shoots at the 

 base of one tree, but comparison with specimens secured from 

 the same tree on a later trip shows that these belong to some 

 other plant. 



The fruits of the anay, which ripen in August and September, 

 are very similar in external appearance to those of certain types 



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