﻿46 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



44682. Persea schiedeana Nees. Lauracese. Coyo. 



From Guatemala. Bud wood collected by Mr. Wilson Popenoe, agricultural 

 explorer. Received April 26, 1917. 



" In the mountains of northern and eastern Guatemala there grows a fruit 

 closely resembling the avocado yet sufficiently different in foliage and flower to 

 indicate that it is a distinct species. In eastern Guatemala, around Zacapa* 

 Gualan, Chiquimula, and El Rancho, it is called shucte, chucte, or sometimes 

 chaucte, while in the northern part of the Republic, immediately across the 

 great Sierra de las Minas, it is known under the names coyo and coyocte". These 

 latter names have been thought by some to indicate two distinct fruits, perhaps 

 distinct species, but an examination of several trees in the Alta Vera Paz, 

 shows that they are in reality the same. Apparently the Indians call the culti- 

 vated fruit (for it is often grown in their gardens and around their huts) coyd,. 

 and the wild tree, which is abundant in the mountains, coyocte. The suffix t& 

 in the Kekchi language is said to mean tree; coyocte would therefore mean 

 nothing more than coyo tree. 



" In some sections of the Alta Vera Paz the coy 6 is fully as common as the- 

 avocado and seems to be held by the Indians in practically the same high* 

 esteem. An American coffee planter who lives in this region tells me that he 

 considers the coy6 even superior to the avocado in flavor, and after testing it 

 I am inclined to agree with him. 



" The coyo must be considered, then, an unusually interesting new fruit, but 

 it has certain defects which make it seem, on the whole, inferior to the avocado. 

 It has, for example, a large seed in most cases, and the flesh is sometimes dis- 

 agreeably fibrous. But it is quite variable, like its relative the avocado, and 

 some coyos are much superior to others. 



" The coyo tree looks, at first- glance, much like an avocado tree and usually 

 reaches about the same size. It is distinguishable from the avocado by the 

 character of its leaves which, upon close examination, differ from those of the 

 avocado in form, are larger, and have more or less brownish pubescence on the 

 lower surface, especially along the midrib. The flowers, when seen from a dis- 

 tance, look like those of the avocado. 



" The fruits are remarkably similar in general appearance to avocados of 

 the West Indian race, such as are grown in Florida. Like avocados, they vary 

 greatly in form. Most commonly they are pyriform, with a well-defined neck,, 

 but they are sometimes obovoid, sometimes broadly pyriform, and sometimes 

 long and slender. They are also quite variable in size, but the majority seenx 

 to be from three-quarters of a pound to 1J pounds in weight. I have heard of 

 coyos weighing 2 to 3 pounds. The surface is about as smooth as that of a 

 West Indian avocado and often of similar color, yellowish green, but some- 

 times it is purplish or bronze. The skin is thicker than that of any of the 

 avocados except those of the Guatemalan race ; it is not hard, however, as in 

 the latter, but leathery and pliable. Frequently it adheres to the flesh, which 

 is of a peculiar brownish white color, gives off a milklike juice when squeezed,, 

 and is of fine, oily texture like the flesh of an avocado. Usually there are 

 numerous fibers running through the flesh, although some coyos are said to be 

 practically free from fiber. The flavor is strongly suggestive of the avocado,, 

 being of the same rich, nutty character, but is nevertheless distinct; it has a 

 richness and nuttiness of its own, which suggest to me the flavor of a ripe 

 coconut. The seed is larger in comparison to the size of the fruit than it is 

 in the best of our budded varieties of the avocado, but it is no larger than 

 in many seedling avocados. In general appearance it resembles an avocado- 

 seed, but the cotyledons when cut are a dull rose pink instead of whitish. The- 



