14 



THE AVOCADO IN FLORIDA. 



of blooming' is given a.s from December to April. The specimen is in 

 full bloom and bears the date of December Y, 1898. 



Dr. William Trelease, Director of the Missouri Botanical Gardens, 

 who has made repeated excursions to Mexico in connection with the 

 study of agaves, informs the writer that the smaller avocado with the 

 bluish or l)lackish fruit (the Mexican avocado) is most commonly 

 found in the markets on the eastern side of the countr}^, while the 

 larger forms occur on the western slope. 



Specimens in the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden and 

 in the United States National jNIuseum indicate that the aA'ocado has 

 been widely disseminated. Among those occurring in the herbarium 

 of the New York Botanical Garden are some collected at the following- 

 places and on the dates given, which are of special interest: Colombia, 

 December 7, 1898; Nassau, N. P., March 12, 1903; Key Largo, Fla., 

 March 26-29, 1898; island of Saint Croix, March 4, 1896; Porto Rico, 

 March 8, 1899; Porotonga, Cook Islands. June, 1^899; Montere}^, Mexico, 

 Januar}^ 10, 1828; San Luis Potosi, Mexico, 1879; Nicols Town, 

 Andros (Bahamas), March 24, 1890; St. Vincent, British AYest Indies, 

 April, 1890; Java, 1865; Jamaica, 1827. The following specimens 

 were found among those in the herbarium of the United States' National 

 Museum: Martinique, 1871; Danish West Indies, March 4, 1896; 

 Santo Domingo, March, 1871; Colima, Mexico, March, 1841. 



The foregoing fifteen localities from Avhich specimens of this species 

 have been collected show how widely it has been distilbuted. The 

 fact that specimens were collected in ftava as earh' as 1865 shows that 

 the plants had been imported a considcral)le time previous to that date. 

 While no specimens from the Hawaiian Islands were found in the 

 herbaria referred to, it is well known that the species occurs there in 

 large quantities. It is also said to occur in the Se^'chelles Islands and 

 in Madagascar, and it. is doubtless found in all other tropical islands, 

 and to some extent on the seaboard of almost all tropical countries. 



The herbarium specimens referred to give some interesting informa- 

 tion regarding the time of blooming. Those collected in Colombia 

 show a date of blooming of December and January, while a note upon 

 one of the herbarium sheets indicates that the time of Ijlooming extends 

 from December to April. In jNlexico the period of blooming seems to 

 be about the same as in Colombia. In the West Indies, except the 

 Bahamas, the earliest bloom ma}^ occur as early as February, l)ut the 

 season of bloom closes in April. In the Bahamas and Florida the 

 flowers usually appear al)out the first of Marcli, though sometimes 

 blooms occur as (;arly as February, while the blooming period closes 

 in April. 



The season near th(^ ecjuator appears to l)e lengthened into five 

 months. A shortening of the ])criod of blooming seems to have 



