The WALA Plant Library
Avocado

Synonyms for Avocado: alligator pear, summer pear, aguacate, palta
Scientific Name: Persea americana (old nomenclature: Persea gratissima Gaert.)
Family: Lauraceae (Laurel Family)

Description:

The avocado we know as a tasty ingredient of salads and dips is actually the fruit of an evergreen tree which has dark green leaves up to 40 centimetres long and grows to a height of 10 to 20 metres. The small, inconspicuous yellow-green flowers are arranged in panicles of several hundred blooms which do not develop into fruits until the tree is about ten years old. There can be as many as a million flowers on a single tree but only a small proportion of these develop into fruits.
Botanically speaking, the round to pear-shaped fruit is a berry, its greenish yellow to golden flesh surrounding a large seed. Avocados never soften on the tree but fall to the ground while the flesh is still hard. Once they have fallen the water content decreases and the flesh acquires its soft, buttery texture.