Y E 
à 
-236 Fruits of Cuba. 
_ The Passion-flowers give their name to the natural . 
D» order Passifloracez, and are nearly allied to the Goose- 
~ berries and Currants. 
Persea Gratissima ; formerly Laurus Persea. No 
fruit enjoys a greater wealth of names than this; and 
therefore it is rich in more senses than one. It is the 
Alligator Pear of the English, which name Alligator is 
only a corruption of the Avocato or Aguacate of the 
Spanish, or Avocat of the French. It is also called the 
Vegetable Marrow by the English, a name which well 
designates its quality. In Peru and Mexico it is most 
commonly called Palto or Palta; and Grainger gives 
us yet another, which he says is the Indian name, when 
he terms it in his poem the “rich Sabbaca.? But in 
another place he employs the more usual appellation. 
* And thou, green avocato, charm of sense, 
Thy ripened marrow liberally bestow’st.” 
The tree is of middle size, and looks iieb like our 
sassafras tree (Laurus sassafras), that it might easily be 
mistaken for it at a little distance. In this resemblance 
it is true to its family connexion ; for it is one of the 
Laurels, and is therefore closely allied with the Sassa- 
fras, as well as with the Bays, the init, and the 
Camphor. 
The fruit looks like a véry large, long pear. It is of 
two or three varieties, red, purple and green ; of which 
the green is the best. The pulp is yellow, and of a firm 
but very rich and delicate consistence. ‘ When ripe,” 
says Grainger in a note, “the skin peels easily sae and 
discovers a butyraceous, or rather a marrowy-like 
