Common name: Avocado
Persea americana Mill. APNI*
Description: Tree to 15 m high; young growth covered with appressed, whitish hairs.
Leaves elliptic to obovate-oblong, 10–30 cm long, 4–10 cm wide, leathery, upper surface dark green, lower surface glaucous and sparsely hairy; secondary veins prominent, reticulum coarsely areolate; petiole 2–7 cm long.
Flowers 6–7 mm long, yellowish green. Calyx not persistent in fruit.
Fruit pear-shaped or globose, mostly 8–15 cm long, usually dark green, pulp fleshy, oily; seed globose, 30–40 mm diam.; sometimes fruit 5–7 cm long at end of season or on some naturalized plants.
Distribution and occurrence: Cultivated for its fruit, occasionally naturalized. Native of Mexico & C Amer.
NSW subdivisions: *NC
Other Australian states: *Qld
Text by G. J. Harden Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 1 (1990)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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