The Choquette avocado is a named commercial
cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
of
avocado
The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...
that originated in
South Florida
South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
.
History
The original tree grew from a seed planted on the property of Remi D. Choquette Sr. in
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, in January 1929, and was likely the result of a cross between Guatemalan and West Indian types. The tree first fruited in 1934, and propagation began in 1939.
'Choquette' bore large fruit of good eating quality in large quantities and had good disease resistance, and thus became a major cultivar. Today 'Choquette' is widely propagated in Florida both for commercial growing and for home growing.
'Choquette' trees are planted in the collections of the
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
's germplasm repository in Miami, the University of Florida's Tropical Research and Education Center in
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the United States, U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and ...
, and the Miami-Dade
Fruit and Spice Park
The Fruit & Spice Park, formally known as the Preston B. Bird/Mary Heinlein Fruit & Spice Park, is a 37-acre park located in Redland, Florida, and it is the only botanical garden of its kind in the United States. This park is operated by Miami-D ...
, also in Homestead.
Description
The fruit is very large, averaging 30–40 ounces (850–1100 grams) in weight, with an oval shape is glossy, smooth, green skin.
Oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...
content of the fruit is approximately 13%. In Florida, the fruit mature from October to January.
'Choquette' trees produce A-type flowers.
References
External links
Video description of Choquette by Dr. Jonathan Crane of the University of Florida.
{{Avocados
Avocado cultivars