Edible Products. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Many general works on tropical agriculture refer to the avocado as a native 

 of the West Indies. There seems, however, to be no positive warrant for this, while 

 there are many indications to the contrary. The avocado has, since the time of 

 Columbus, spread from its home in America entirely around the Tropics. That such 

 an important food plant was confined to the American continent until the post- 

 Columbian contact with the Old World, while numerous other plants, such as the 

 yam, taro, and sweet potato, had already spread to parts of the Old World, was 

 probably due to the fact that the avocado will not easily survive long voyages, while 

 most of the tropical root crops have much greater vitality. The fruit spread but 

 slowly before the last century, but in recent times its culture has rapidly increased, 

 and it is now cultivated in most of the countries that are suited to its growth. It 

 has been cultivated in India since about 1860, and has reached the Islands of Mada- 

 gascar, Reunion, Madeira, the Canaries, Samoa, and Tahiti. In Natal and Australia 

 It is just gaining a foothold. Its cultivation is increasing in Algiers. In 1882 it was 

 reported as growing in southern France along the shores of the Mediterranean. 

 Some of the trees had flowered, but apparently none had fruited at that time. In 

 southern Spain, however, the tree fruits, and is cultivated to a limited extent. 

 E. Roul gives the range of this species as 36° from the equator. He states, however, 

 that certain varieties, such as " dulce," are not found outside the Tropics. The 

 avocado seems to have commanded very little attention in the West Indies. No 

 mention is made of this fruit in Morris's account of the British West Indies, and the 

 index to the bulletins of the botanical department of Jamaica does not contain a 

 single reference to it. In Porto Rico the fruit is abundant and popular, although 

 not so important a staple as in tropical Mexico, where quantities of even the most 

 infeiuor fruit are consumed by the natives, who consider it an important ingredient 

 of that indispensable Spanish dish, soup. There are now orchards of avocados in 

 southern Florida and California, and a slightly harder variety would greatly extend 

 the culture of this fruit in these regions. Cuban fruit is shipped to the northern 

 markets, and the conditions in that island are probably similar to those existing in 

 Porto Rico. In the tropical parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America 

 the fruit is very common, and its different forms and races are innumerable. 



DESCRIPTION. 



The avocado tree is 20 to 60 feet high, varying in habit from tall and rather 

 strict to short and spreading. In favourable situations the top is very dense. The 

 leaves are 20 to 40 cm. long and 7 to 25 cm. wide acuminate at the apex, varying from 

 acute to truncate at base, petiole 2 to 8 cm. long. The upper surface is smooth, with 

 depressed veins ; the lower surface is glaucous, with the raised veins slightly 

 putrescent. Different forms, all referred to the one species, vary so greatly in the 

 form and size of the leaves that close relationship would hardly be suspected. 

 Climatic differences may possibly account for some of this variation, the large, 

 broad-leaved forms being usually found near the coast. Young trees have also, as a 

 rule, much larger leaves. 



The Flowers are perfect and are borne on loose axillary racemes 

 near the ends of the branches, usually at th"e base of the year's growth. The 

 corolla is wanting, the calyx 6-parted. The lobes are all of equal length, green 

 in color, and pubescent. The stamens are 9, in three series ; the anthers 4-celled, 

 opening by valves hinged distally. The two outer series have the openings 

 introrsely directed ; the inner series has the two distal valves introrsely, the basal 

 pair extrorsely, directed. Each stamen of the inner series bears near its base two 

 large glands. Inside the stamens are three staminoidia. Occasionally 4-parted 

 flowers are to be found, in which case they are 4-parted throughout. The ovary is 

 1-celled, the style simple. 



