Avocados are members of the family Lauraceae (low-RAY-see-ee), which includes the plants that produce edible cinnamon, camphor, sassafras and the herb laurel (bay leaf). Lauraceae are evergreen shrubs and trees from tropical highland or mild temperate environments.
Geography
Avocados (Persea americana) are indigenous to the uplands of a wide geographic area of Mexico and Central America. Caribbean (West Indian) avocados originated in Costa Rica.
Co-evolution
Avocados co-evolved with large mammals that swallowed avocados whole and distributed their seeds. In "Ghosts of Evolution," Connie C. Barlow describes avocados as living records of past climate and fauna, built to survive in their ancestors' environments, dependent on animals that became extinct 13,000 years ago.
Wild
Wild avocados have thick skins and seeds as large or larger than cultivated avocados, but only thin layers of pulp. Avocados still grow wild, but humans have been selecting preferred varieties for 9,000 years.
Pre-Columbian
Avocados were cultivated in pre-Columbian America and introduced to cultivation in Spain and Italy by the Conquistadors.
Persin
Avocado seeds contain bitter tannins, as well as persin, a bitter oily fungicide, which is toxic to humans and animals, particularly birds. Persin seeps into the pulp in small amounts.
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