Species
+

Persea americana Mill.

Alligator pear, Apokat, Avocado, Avocado

Climate known 46 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas, with archaeological evidence of early human avocado use dating back thousands of years across various regions of Central and South America. It was prized for its large and unusually oily fruit. The native range of avocado extends from Mexico to Peru, encompassing much of Central America and parts of northern and western South America.

Text from Wikipedia, “Avocado”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Persea

Persea is a genus of about 111 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The best-known member of the genus is the avocado, P. americana, widely cultivated in subtropical regions for its large, edible fruit.

Text from Wikipedia, “Persea”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Lauraceae
Described by
Mill.
Native to
Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southwest +6
Wild records
533 in range· 436 open

At a glance

Warmest month
27°C
Apr, mean day; nights 15 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1591mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Sep 301 mm (CHELSA)
Light
28–41DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to October in the northern hemisphere (June to October at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1591 mm a year, wettest September at 301 mm, driest February at 28 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 41 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 5.0 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as ? drymifolia Schltdl. & Cham.; Laurus indica Sieber; Laurus indica Sieber ex Nees; Laurus persea L.; Persea americana C.Bauh. and 42 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to October in the northern hemisphere (June to October at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (1231 mm of 1591 mm) falls in June to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 20.1 °C against a yearly mean of 19.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to April.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1591 mm a year, wettest September at 301 mm, driest February at 28 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1591 mm a year at the habitat, 1231 mm of it June to October. Wettest month September at 301 mm, driest February at 28 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 784 mm to 3162 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 41 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 41 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 22, the highest 90th-percentile month 47).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 5.0 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 5.0 °C, the absolute minimum -3.1 °C, 3 frost nights in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 35.0 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 11.6 °C in January (across the envelope cells 5.5 °C to 19.5 °C), warmest day 26.9 °C in April (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 5.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 59 to 69% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 22 °C in Jan to 27 °C in Apr; mean night from 12 °C in Jan to 17 °C in Jun. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1591 mm of rain a year, most in Sep. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 434 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -3.1 °C and the 99th-percentile day 35.0 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost35.0° 99th-percentile day (undated)-3.1° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 28–41RH 59–69 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 434 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C22 / 17–2724 / 19–2926 / 20–3127 / 22–3227 / 21–3225 / 20–3124 / 19–3024 / 19–3024 / 19–3023 / 18–2923 / 18–2822 / 17–27
Night °C12 / 6–2012 / 6–2013 / 8–2115 / 9–2316 / 11–2417 / 11–2416 / 11–2416 / 11–2416 / 11–2415 / 10–2313 / 8–2112 / 6–20
Rain mm33 / 7–12728 / 8–9630 / 8–7648 / 16–104115 / 50–318267 / 142–399240 / 135–414247 / 134–433301 / 144–478176 / 60–41766 / 13–26140 / 7–185
DLI30 / 24–3434 / 28–3939 / 34–4441 / 37–4740 / 33–4536 / 29–3936 / 30–4036 / 30–3931 / 28–3530 / 26–3428 / 24–3428 / 22–32
RH %62 / 53–6960 / 51–6759 / 48–6560 / 48–6563 / 53–6867 / 60–7266 / 61–7267 / 61–7269 / 63–7367 / 61–7264 / 56–7163 / 54–70

Each figure is the median across the 434 grid cells holding the 529 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1410:1661 (19.475, -96.925). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -3.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 5.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 35.0 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 434 distinct grid cells holding the 529 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1410:1661 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 19.50_-96.875, lapse-corrected +98 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 1231 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua· introduced: Burkina, Gambia, The, Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo, Gulf of Guinea Is., Zaïre, Sudan, Kenya, Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Cyprus, China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Laos, Vietnam, Solomon Is., New Zealand North, Fiji, Vanuatu, Cook Is., Easter Is., Marquesas, Pitcairn Is., Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Marianas, Marshall Is., Hawaii, New York, Florida, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, C. American Pacific Is., El Salvador, Panama, Bahamas, Cayman Is., Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is., Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Galápagos, Peru, Argentina Northwest
Kew's description“tree” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker17.539, -96.504 · in the densest population, 376 records (71% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 533 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 436 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 29 km away. 1086 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 4 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 533 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Persea americanaPersea americanaPersea americanaPersea americanaPersea americanaPersea americanaPersea americanaPersea americana

Photographs: (c) jamie-aa, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Zihao Wang, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Kevin Faccenda, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Jhonatan Matheus, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Persea americana, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Widespread genome duplications throughout the history of flowering plants
Liying Cui, P. Kerr Wall, James H. Leebens-Mack, Bruce G. Lindsay (2006) · Genome Research
Ethnomedicines used in Trinidad and Tobago for urinary problems and diabetes mellitus
Cheryl Lans (2006) · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Polygalacturonases: Many Genes in Search of a Function1
Kristen A. Hadfield, A. B. Bennett (1998) · PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) Phenolics, In Vitro Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities, and Inhibition of Lipid and Protein Oxidation in Porcine Patties
Javier Germán Rodríguez-Carpena, David Morcuende, María J. Andrade, Petri Kylli (2011) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
The Odyssey of Bioactive Compounds in Avocado (Persea americana) and Their Health Benefits
Deep Jyoti Bhuyan, Muhammad A. Alsherbiny, Perera, Mitchell Low (2019) · Antioxidants
Infusions of Portuguese medicinal plants: Dependence of final antioxidant capacity and phenol content on extraction features
M. S. Gião, María José, María D. Rivero-Pérez, Cláudia I. Pereira (2007) · Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Comparison of next generation sequencing technologies for transcriptome characterization
P. Kerr Wall, Jim Leebens‐Mack, André S. Chanderbali, Abdelali Bara­kat (2009) · BMC Genomics
Influence of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on ripening and cell-wall matrix polysaccharides of avocado (Persea americana) fruit
Jiwon Jeong, Donald J. Huber, Steven A. Sargent (2002) · Postharvest Biology and Technology
The avocado genome informs deep angiosperm phylogeny, highlights introgressive hybridization, and reveals pathogen-influenced gene space adaptation
Martha Rendón‐Anaya, Enrique Ibarra‐Laclette, Alfonso Méndez‐Bravo, Tianying Lan (2019) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 223 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.