Avocado Materials and Observations in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru

One of the gifts of America to the world of horticulture is the avocado. The fruit was apparently widespread through Central America and parts of South America in preColumbian times. Since the discovery of the New World the avocado has become widely known and has been grown in nearly all countries throughout the world where climatic conditions permit. Although the avocado of commerce, characterized by its comparatively large fruit, is apparently indigenous to the general area of Guatemala and southern Mexico, it is difficult to locate or precisely demonstrate the progenitors and point of origin of the species. Slowly we are able to locate and successfully introduce into our stockpile of horticultural research materials more of the primitive, borderline and intermediate forms so that some day perhaps we can piece together all the evidence and realize how and where the avocado, as we know it, came to be.