DISTRIBUTION AND TIME OF BLOOMING. 13 



sotnotiiiies rolled niidshipiiiairs hiittiT, and held in various dcjrivi'S of aiiprccialion 

 l)y difffit-nt ijersonhi. It is also used as a salad, iicMU>i diissed with pepin'r, salt, ami 

 vinej,'ar, in whieh style it is relished by most jteojde. The tree is of stately j^'rowth, 

 often reaching' tlic hciy-lit of 40 or ")0 feet in Florida. It is an Aiiiciican fruit; it was 

 introdii{-e(l into the j^anU-ns of Spain in KiOl, and into the Sunda Isit-s al)out the 

 middle of the eighteenth century. At tlie hegiiuiing of the eighteenth eentnry thin 

 tree did not exist in the gardens of British India. In America its actual area in a 

 wild state is of uncommon extent. It has been found in the forests, on the hanks of 

 rivers, and on the seashore from ^lexico and the West Indies to the Amazon. At 

 the time of the discovery of America it was found both wild and cultivati-d in Mexico. 

 According to Hernandez it was cultivated liy the people of IVru under the name of 

 "palto," but there is no proof that it was wild in that country. 



Mr. W. Harris refers to it in liaiW's Cyclopedia of American Hor- 

 ticulture as follows: 



The avocado or alligator pear i.s a native of the AVest Indies, Mexico to Peru, and 

 Brazil. It is very common in Jamaica, l)eing found in every settlement or i>lanta- 

 tion. The tree grows to a height of 2o to '.iO feet. It has elliptical or elliptical- 

 oblong leaves, 4 to 7 inclu's long, glabrate and pale beneatli. The fruits are large, 

 more or less pear-shaped, and covered with a green or deep i)urple skin and con- 

 taining a large quantity of a lirm yeilowish-green pulp, inclosing a single large seed. 

 This fruit is highly esteemed by all classes in the West Indies. The i)nlp is marrow- 

 like, and is eaten as a salad, usually with the addition of i)epper, salt, and vinegar. 

 Europeans as a rule do not like the fruit at first, but once the taste is acijuired they 

 become exceedingly, often excessively, fond of it. The pulp contains an abundance 

 of oil, which may be used for illuminating purposes; also for .soap making. The seeds 

 yield a deep, indelible black stain, and are used for marking linen. Plants are 

 easily raised from seeds, and in good soil in warm situations they grow rapidly and 

 begin to fruit when about 5 years old. Tliere are a good many varieties, differing 

 from each other in size, sha[)e, and quality of fruit. These differences are ncjt due 

 to careful cultivation and selection in all cases, however, but to natural variation and 

 accidental intercrossing. 



DISTRIBUTION AND TIME OF BLOOMING. 



Meissner « gives the habitat of the avocado as *" the forest, especially 

 on the seacoast and following- the rivers of tropical America, as well 

 as in Mexico, Pern, Colombia, Guiana, and the islands of the Antilles, 

 thence to subtropical localities where this agreeable fruit is cultivated. 

 It is found in Brazil, al)out Peru, and elsewhere; also about Yuri- 

 magnus, in Peru, and in English Guiana." 



Emile Rodigas^ thinks that the avocado is native to Brazil. He 

 figures a large green fruit without a seed cavit}'. It is interesting to 

 note that according to this author it was introduced in Franco in 1750. 



An herbarium specimen in the New York Botanical Garden, col- 

 lected by Mr. H. H. Smith, in Colombia, is accompanied bj^ a note 

 stating that the species has ever}^ appearance of being' native to the 

 mountain forest at an altitude of from 1,500 to 2,500 feet. The time 



"Translation from INIartius, Flora Brasiliensis, Vol. V, Part II, ji. 15i). 

 6 L' Illustrations Horticole, XXXVI: 15 (1889). 



