Avocado variety? (forum)

Renate starts with ...
Tasted a wonderful avocado grown on Lord Howe island, so possibly an old variety. It looked like an enormous eggplant with purple skin, the most wonderful creamy and tasty flesh and I think only a small pit. Can anyone identify what variety it might be and where I could find a plant?

Time: 12th November 2010 7:11pm

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About the Author Renate
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BJ says...
Enormous eggplant? Could be a Lyon relative - Reed Hazzard etc, but they are green skinned. They are huge and creamy, but not purple.
It could be a very good seedling?
Here are a few cultivars from America. I doubt we'd have many here, but Oro Negro sounds similar to what you've described...
http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/avocado-viewer/index.htm


Time: 12th November 2010 8:44pm

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About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas
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Brendan says...
I have one growing here, large, purple skin when ripe, but has a very large seed. Mind you, the creamy tasty flesh can be 25 to 30mm thick! None on this year tho :-( It's a seed-grown avo too.

Mate who gave me it, called it a Proserpine Purple?

Time: 13th November 2010 8:50am

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Phil@Tyalgum says...
Some enterprising gardener should seize the opportunity to graft a few from the tree on Lord Howe. I wonder if AQIS regulations apply.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Time: 13th November 2010 1:47pm

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Pauline says...
Mmmmm yes, I wonder.

Time: 14th November 2010 12:41am

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trikus says...
Phil , what a great haul of Avos you picture there , I have tried many different old seedling trees . One in Childers behind the Chemist is enormous trees , possibly way over 100 years old .
Another over the road from me now in Tully has a massive trunk and must be pretty old . Usually these have large seeds , and sometimes watery , but most are still tasty and worth cultivating . Another local one has a very thick stem and skin , when stem falls off its ready.

Time: 14th November 2010 8:42am

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Renate says...
Hi BJ. i looked on your website and the Oro Nero does look similar. Now for the hard question - how do I get one in Australia?

Brendon, your Proserpine Purple sounds interesting...but again, where are these gems available?

Time: 17th November 2010 8:19pm

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CTMIAMI says...
Can you post a picture of that avocado?

Time: 30th December 2011 11:50am

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Jason says...
Purple skinned Avocados with a more white flesh are the most common type in the mountains of central Mexico, they are the most cold hardy Avocado's. There's not many of those genetics around in Australia, very easy to get in theory. I could have seed sent out from Mexico any day, but customs dodgy restrictions are stopping me.

About large avocados I have seen a very old picture of a large Avocado tree taking in the 1800s in Mexico. The tree had a 5? year old boy standing in front of it and he didn't make much of an impression on the tree, the trunk woud have been in excess of 6 feet wide. I doubt any Avocado tree of that size exists these days but it makes you realise what is possible given enough time and given no humans to break things

Time: 30th December 2011 1:22pm

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Speedy says...
the fruits in Phil's pic remind me of all the different Avocado trees that where growing at CSIRO plantation in Mildura.
years ago I jumped the fence to take a look and the variety of different colours, shapes , sizes and flavours was staggering.
That was over 20yrs ago ...
the trees are all gone now , like so many other interesting things there... Jujubes, Indian Jujube cvs., white sapote collection, lucumo, mango, asimina, persimmon collection etc.
all gone under the bulldozer and burnt.
things that would now be impossible to import without great expense and redtape if at all.

Time: 30th December 2011 2:09pm

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Peter says...
Yes, this was before Phytophthora cinnamomi was spread throughout the continents, which highlights the importance of quarantine...

Time: 30th December 2011 2:09pm

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Speedy says...
It'll be AQIS's 'dodgy restrictions' (ie. quarantine, not customs)
We definitely need quarantine restrictions, but yes it has gone overboard and with double standards.


treatment of avocado seed or scions for fungi and bacteria is very simple and should be inexpensive, but when AQIS does it , it can be expensive.
viruses are another, more complex and expensive issue.

Time: 30th December 2011 2:21pm

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Mike says...
I have reed and hazard and they are fairly standard types.Hawaiin types frowe,masami,ohata, and hayes are large and purple, usually with small skin but I didn't think that they were in Australia.Mexicola is black/purple and small more in the hass style.
Having worked with pest and environmental management I am extremely sceptical about customs and quarantine regulations for pest and disease management at the state and federal levels.Many threats are ignored or not addressed and there is overkill with minor threats.There is much that is non-sensical and baffling and great temptation to flout laws with extraordinary quarantine requirements.By the way I reckon that many phytopthoras (even P.cinnamomi) are native and they can 'activate' with poor drainage and with other bad land management.I also think there are plenty of introduced ones that can't be identified properly and just get called P.citrocola or P.solanami or whatever pretty randomly.

Time: 30th December 2011 4:23pm

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Jason says...
Mike have you ever seen a Mexicola tree up your way?, I remember the guy on Gardening Australia who moved from Sydney to Brisbane showed a seedling he was trying to get to fruit a couple of years ago because it was a rare purple type Avocado he said. I'm not sure where he got the seed but maybe his tree has since fruited?. I have read in some old Australian gardening books that Mexicola was a variety that was in Australia but I've never seen evidence of one myself

Time: 30th December 2011 4:44pm

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Original Post was last edited: 30th December 2011 4:45pm

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Peter says...
Interesting you mention native Phytophthora's: Recently two new Phytophthora species have been found in the Kwongan vegetation in SW Western Australia which are probably native to the region. Disease impact is periodically only and does not change the species composition of the vegetation - a sign of a long coevolution and therefore is probably endemic. This contrasts with P. cinnamomi in Australia, where this one has caused severe damage to native vegetation. Sometimes we just don't know anymore, how the landscape looked before a particular pest and old pictures make us realise the degradation.
I am only interested to comment on the biological aspect of the topic - certainly there is so much more to discuss about the political/mangement side and shortcomings of the system.
Anyway, as a consequence of plant movement, the number of different Phytophthora's in metropolitan areas is higher than any gardener wishes for.
Good drainage is not sufficient when dealing with P.'s spread by air. Luckily we don't have the air-borne P. ramorum (yet).

Time: 30th December 2011 5:04pm

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Jason says...
Old pictures of forests around here look so much different to the forrest these days. Although the reason for the destruction here is simply the out of control "controlled burns", this has also allowed the forest to open up and weeds and grass to get a hold in the open canopy. The stupidity of the cycle is hard to believe

Time: 30th December 2011 6:39pm

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Mike says...
I don't think mexicola avos are in Australia yet and like the hawaiin ones I have only seen pictures.I think some of the purples are derived hangovers from when you could bring in seeds and from seedlings of some of the purples and hass groups.They might not then be able to be pinned to named varieties.
P.cinnamomi strains may be native and even play a role maintaining biodiversity like cyclones or crown of thorns starfish by knocking out dominants.Flowing,splashing water can spread spores but dampness and standing water really get it going.There have been baffling P.cinnamomi outbreaks in remote rainforest that are inexplicable but weeds,new vectors and disturbance would be usual catalysts.With fire it is usually good for fuel reduction,habitat improvement and pest reduction.The natural intensity to frequency varies from almost yearly low intensity fires in the north to high intensity fires every 7 or so years in the south.Fire exclusion can set up a big future disaster with fuel build-up but the weather conditions of the burn to minimise risk need to be considered.Development in some places obstructs good management and the wrong intensity or frequency of fires can be harmful in many ways.

Time: 30th December 2011 7:36pm

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Sean says...
Recher has a Mexicola tree, I got some seeds off him many years ago but unfortunately managed to kill them all, But they did look correct with small leaves and very Aniseed smell when crushed.

Time: 30th December 2011 8:12pm

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Jason says...
Well there you go, now it's up to Phil to go for a visit :D

Time: 30th December 2011 8:52pm

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Phil@Tyalgum says...
Actually I am planning to visit Lord Howe Island at some stage.. what would be the best time to go to maybe find the elusive purple avocado mentioned at the start of this thread?
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Time: 30th December 2011 11:18pm

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Brendan says...
Don't forget Phil to bring back some scions for yourself, Jason & me :-)
I'd like mine in April/May thanks.

Time: 2nd January 2012 9:36am

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Wazza McG says...
Thats ditto for me to - please add me to the list ;-) Definitely willing to pay costs +

Please read this article

http://www.seedsavers.net/handbook/onion

I know its says Norfolk Island purple onion - but who knows......maybe. They do have a famous red onion there.

Time: 2nd January 2012 8:57pm

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About the Author wazzamcg
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Phil@Tyalgum says...
Actually the description sounds a lot like Red Wethersfield, an old onion popular in the US in the early 19th century, and the Norfolk Island Red seems to have been brought there by American whalers. Maybe they are one and the same. Still available through current catalogues too.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Time: 2nd January 2012 9:34pm

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Renate says...
Hi Phil, Lord Howe is fabulous except winter can be windy and a bit cold. Summer is high season, but you will find it hard to find accommodation. Sep-Dec or Feb-May are probably the best times. Hope you enjoy, it is a great place. If you find the illusive avocado, please please think of me!

Time: 19th January 2012 8:11pm

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About the Author Renate
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Phil@Tyalgum says...
Thanks Renate - it should be peaceful enough for me to do an inventory of what they are growing there...

Time: 19th January 2012 8:38pm

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