For the place in California, see Avocado, California. For the Pearl Jam album, see Pearl Jam (album).
Avocado
Close-up picture of foliage and avocado fruit
Avocado fruit and foliage, Réunion island
Ripe avocado fruit and cross-section
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Persea
Species: P. americana
Binomial name
Persea americana
Mill.
Synonyms
Persea gratissima
The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to Mexico and Central America,[1] classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. Avocado or alligator pear also refers to the fruit, botanically a large berry that contains a single seed.[2]
Avocados are commercially valuable and are cultivated in tropical and Mediterranean climates throughout the world. They have a green-skinned, fleshy body that may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. Commercially, they ripen after harvesting. Trees are partially self-pollinating and often are propagated through grafting to maintain a predictable quality and quantity of the fruit.