38 BULLETIN 743, U. & DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
which has a small seed and flesh quite free from fiber. A coyo of this 
character is a worthy rival of the best avocados. The flavor is dis- 
tinct and agreeable. Indeed, it is considered by many people in 
Alta Yera Paz to be superior to that of the avocado. 
DISTRIBUTION AND COMMON NAMES. 
While adapted to a greater'range of elevation than the Guatemalan 
race of avocados, the coyo is not so widely distributed in Guatemala 
as the latter. It is grown most extensively in the Department of 
Alta Vera Paz. It is frequently met with in the mountains of this 
part of Guatemala, where it grows among other trees in the forest 
and has every appearance of being indigenous. It is also common in 
most of the villages and towns, where it is planted in gardens and 
dooryards. In San Cristobal it is particularly abundant, there being 
about as many coyo trees as avocados in the dooryards of the 
inhabitants. 
Directly south of Alta Yera Paz, across the Sierra de las Minas, 
the coyo is found in the Motagua Yalley from El Eancho down to 
Gualan. At Zacapa and Chiquimula it is well known. With the 
exception of a single tree at Amatitlan, however, it was not seen on 
the Pacific slope of Guatemala. 
The lowest elevation at which the coyo was found is about 500 
feet, the highest 5,500. It seems to be quite successful at both these 
elevations. 
North of the Sierra de las Minas, in Alta Yera Paz, the species is 
known as coyo, coyocte, or kiyau. South of the Sierra de las Minas 
it is called shucte, chucte, or chaucte. It has been stated that the 
coyo and the coyocte are different fruits; a careful investigation in 
Alta Yera Paz, however, indicates that the}^ are not specifically dis- 
tinct. Many Indians who were questioned on the subject were unable 
to define the difference between the two, and trees which were pointed 
out as coyo and coyocte proved to be of one and the same species. 
As far as could be determined the difference in nomenclature is as 
follows : Trees which are planted in dooryards or gardens are always 
called coyo, while those growing wild in the mountains are some- 
times called coyocte. The coyocte, or wild, trees usually produce very 
poor fruit. 
THE COYO TREE. 
It is not difficult to distinguish the coyo tree from the avocado. 
In both habit and character of growth it is quite distinct. While the 
tree is about the same size as that of the avocado (PI- XII), the 
branches have a tendency to extend horizontally from the trunk, and 
the young branchlets are stouter and stiffer than in the avocado, with 
the leaves clustered toward the ends of the growths. The tips of the 
branchlets as well as the lower surfaces of the leaves are covered with 
a heavy brown pubescence, not seen in the avocado. The leaves differ 
