AVOCATO-PEAR, Tree, or Laurus Persae; a species omitted to be described under the article LAURUS, (Encycl.)
It is a native of the West Indies. In form and thickness the fruit resembles a pear. The pulpy and fleshy part is of a pale green, with little or no consistency when ripe, and melts in the mouth like marrow, which it greatly resembles in taste. The skin is smooth and thin, but of a strong tough substance, and of a beautiful green colour, which does not become yellow till the fruit is perfectly ripe. The fruit, by reason of its softness, may be eaten out of the surrounding skin with a tea-spoon, like jelly and marmalade. It is frequently served up in the West Indies on a plate, with sugar, rose-water, and orange-flowers; most commonly, however, it is mixed with sugar and the juice of limes, which render it extremely palatable.
The unripe fruit too is frequently plucked and eaten in thin slices, with pepper and salt. In this stage, the taste of the avocado greatly resembles that of artichokes. Every preparation of this fruit is esteemed highly nourishing; as it warms, exhilarates, and fortifies the stomach.—It is particularly recommended in dysenteries.
In the middle of the pulpy part of the fruit lies the nut or seed, which is very large, almost round, of a pale rufous colour, a little wrinkled, contains no kernel within it, and whose degree of hardness does not exceed that of a chestnut divested of its skin. This nut, about an hour after it is separated from the fruit, splits of itself into two or three pieces. If committed to the ground in this state, no vegetation ensues, because the embryo of the seed is broken; so that such as would propagate these plants from seed must sow the nuts the moment they are taken out of the pulp, in which case they will begin to germinate in eight or ten days after.
The bark and wood of this tree, which rises to a considerable height, are of a greyish colour. The leaves are long, pointed, of a substance like leather, and of a beautiful green colour. The flowers are produced in large knots or clusters at the extremities of the branches, and consist each of six petals disposed in the form of a star, and of a dirty white or yellow colour, with an agreeable odour, which diffuses itself to a considerable distance. The tree begins to bear fruit
two years and a half, or at most three years after being planted; and like most of the trees in warm climates, bears twice a year.
The buds of the avocado tree are said to be used with success in ptisans against the venereal disease. An infusion of them in water, drank in the morning fasting, is strongly recommended for dislodging coagulated blood in the stomach produced by a fall or a severe stroke on that important entrail. "The wild boars in the East Indies (says Labat) eat greedily of the mammees and avigato pears, which give their flesh a luscious and most agreeable favour."