Avocado
| Avocado | ||||||||||||||
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| Persea americana |
The avocado is the fruit of the avocado tree, Persea americana, in the family Lauraceae. It is about the size of a lemon or slightly larger, dark mottled green to green-brown in color, and high in fat, with a large central pit. The flesh is very popular in vegetarian cuisine, making a good substitute for meats and cheeses in sandwiches because of the high fat content. It is also used as the base for the Mexican sauce known as guacamole, which is simply an abbreviation of aquacate mole, or avocado sauce in Spanish.
The avocado tree does not tolerate freezing temperatures well, and so can be grown only in subtropical and tropical climates.