The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (Persea americana) is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was prized for its large and unusually oily fruit. The tree likely originated in the highlands bridging south-central Mexico and Guatemala. Avocado trees have a native growth range from Mexico to Costa Rica. Its fruit, sometimes also referred to as an alligator pear or avocado pear, is botanically a large berry containing a single large seed. Sequencing of its genome showed that the evolution of avocados was shaped by polyploidy events and that commercial varieties have a hybrid origin. Avocado trees are partly self-pollinating, and are often propagated through grafting to maintain consistent fruit output. Avocados are presently cultivated in the tropical and Mediterranean climates of many countries. Mexico is the world’s leading producer of avocados as of 2020, supplying nearly 30% of the global harvest in that year.
The fruit of domestic varieties have smooth, buttery, golden-green flesh when ripe. Depending on the cultivar, avocados have green, brown, purplish, or black skin, and may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. For commercial purposes the fruits are picked while unripe and ripened after harvesting. The nutrient density and extremely high fat content of avocado flesh are useful to a variety of cuisines and are often eaten to enrich vegetarian diets.
In major production regions like Chile, Mexico and California the water demands of avocado farms place strain on local resources. Avocado production is also implicated in other externalities, including deforestation and human rights concerns associated with the partial control of their production in Mexico by organized crime. Global warming is expected to result in significant changes to the suitable growing zones for avocados, and place additional pressures on the locales in which they are produced due to heat waves and drought.
Taxonomy and evolution
The genus Persea to which the avocado belongs is considered to have a North American origin, with Persea suggested to have diversified in Central America during the Pleistocene epoch. The modern avocado is thought to have speciated from other Persea during the Pleistocene, estimated at around either 1.3 million or 430,000 years ago. A number of authors, including Connie Barlow in her 2001 book The Ghosts of Evolution, have speculated that the avocado is an “evolutionary anachronism” with megafaunal dispersal syndrome (a concept originally proposed in the 1980s by Paul S. Martin and Daniel H. Janzen[30]), arguing that the avocado likely coevolved dispersal of its large seed by now-extinct megafauna. Barlow proposed that the dispersers included the gomphothere (elephant relative) Cuvieronius, as well as ground sloths, toxodontids, and glyptodonts.
Etymology
The word avocado comes from the Spanish aguacate, which derives from the Nahuatl (Mexican) word āhuacatl [aːˈwakat͡ɬ], which goes back to the proto-Aztecan *pa:wa. In Molina’s Nahuatl dictionary “auacatl” is given also as the translation for compañón “testicle”, and this has been taken up in popular culture where a frequent claim is that testicle was the word’s original meaning. This is not the case, as the original meaning can be reconstructed as “avocado” – rather the word seems to have been used in Nahuatl as a euphemism for “testicle”.
In Central American, Caribbean Spanish-speaking countries, and Spain it is known by the Mexican Spanish name aguacate, while South American Spanish-speaking countries Argentina, Chile, Perú and Uruguay use a Quechua-derived word, palta. The Nahuatl āhuacatl can be compounded with other words, as in ahuacamolli, meaning avocado soup or sauce, from which the Spanish word guacamole derives.
Cultivation
Domestication, leading to genetically distinct cultivars, possibly originated in the Tehuacan Valley in the state of Puebla, Mexico. There is evidence for three possible separate domestications of the avocado, resulting in the currently recognized Guatemalan (quilaoacatl), Mexican (aoacatl) and West Indian (tlacacolaocatl) landraces. The Guatemalan and Mexican and landraces originated in the highlands of those countries, while the West Indian landrace is a lowland variety that ranges from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador to Peru, achieving a wide range through human agency before the arrival of the Europeans. The three separate landraces were most likely to have already intermingled[a] in pre-Columbian America and were described in the Florentine Codex. As a result of artificial selection, the fruit and correspondingly the seeds of cultivated avocados became considerably larger relative to their earlier wild forebears millennia before the Columbian exchange.
The earliest residents of northern coastal Peru were living in temporary camps in an ancient wetland and eating avocados, along with chilies, mollusks, sharks, birds, and sea lions. The oldest discovery of an avocado pit comes from Coxcatlan Cave, dating from around 9,000 to 10,000 years ago. The avocado tree also has a long history of cultivation in Central and South America, likely beginning as early as 5,000 BC. A water jar shaped like an avocado, dating to AD 900, was discovered in the pre-Inca city of Chan Chan.
Production
In 2020, world production of avocados was 8.1 million tonnes, led by Mexico with 30% (2.4 million tonnes) of the total (table). Other major producers were Colombia, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Indonesia, together producing 35% of the world total. Despite market effects of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, volume production of avocados in Mexico increased by 40% over 2019 levels.
In 2018, the US Department of Agriculture estimated that 231,028 hectares (570,880 acres) in total were under cultivation for avocado production in Mexico, a 6% increase over the previous year, and that 2 million tonnes would be exported. The Mexican state of Michoacán is the world leader in avocado production, accounting for 80% of all Mexican output. Most Mexican growers produce the Hass variety due to its longer shelf life for shipping and high demand among consumers.
Market
Seventy-six percent of Mexico’s avocado exports go to the United States, with the free trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico in July 2020 facilitating avocado shipments within the North American free trade zone.
Culinary
The fruit of horticultural cultivars has a markedly higher fat content than most other fruit, mostly monounsaturated fat, and as such serves as an important staple in the diet of consumers who have limited access to other fatty foods (high-fat meats and fish, dairy products). Having a high smoke point, avocado oil is expensive compared to common salad and cooking oils, and is mostly used for salads or dips.
A ripe avocado yields to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed. The flesh is prone to enzymatic browning, quickly turning brown after exposure to air. To prevent this, lime or lemon juice can be added to avocados after peeling.
It is used in both savory and sweet dishes, though in many countries not for both. The avocado is common in vegetarian cuisine as a substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads because of its high fat content.
Generally, avocado is served raw, though some cultivars, including the common ‘Hass’, can be cooked for a short time without becoming bitter. The flesh of some avocados may be rendered inedible by heat. Prolonged cooking induces this chemical reaction in all cultivars
It is used as the base for the Mexican dip known as guacamole, as well as a spread on corn tortillas or toast, served with spices. Avocado is a primary ingredient in avocado soup. Avocado slices are frequently added to hamburgers and tortas and is a key ingredient in California rolls and other makizushi (“maki”, or rolled sushi).
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I have a growing suspicion that a lot of you posting in these threads aren’t real generals
someone heard my voice for the first time yesterday and told me I sound like Viktor from Arcane, which is the exact same comment I got from someone else who has been my friend for 3 years when they heard my voice for the first time, i must say i feel quite honored
but 2 days ago in a conversation with my family my sister told me my voice sounds american and i still feel slightly insulted
I’m so fucking tired of clickbait headlines
At the risk of glazing
like the lib I am. The eastern provinces have a pretty impressive implementation of renewables with Quebec having some of the lowest electricity costs in North America.Celebrating some of the small wins here.
rewatched Lost Highway for the first time in about a decade and that shit is fire. i was a little too crossfaded by the end so i want to rewatch the last like 15-20 mins. very confusing but i think the kind of thing where looking for a literal explanation really isn’t the point? (same could be said for mullholand drive to a lesser extent, i think that one has a generally accepted explanation for what’s literally goin on though)
I’m a little late on this one. A person who’s entertainment advice I trust had recommended I watch “Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special”. So last night I had some good gummies and watched it. It was my kind of weird. My jaw was on the floor most of the time. I couldn’t believe what they got away with. I loved it start to finish. Betty, as a fellow kinkster in the exact same career situation I totally understand you.
Today I stopped at a cafe to get a cold drink (it’s over 30°C over here, I’m not used to not having a winter!) and met other French people there; after quickly talking about our travels, we veered into talking about politics, and we ended up talking for almost 3h! I’m very glad to say that they seemed very receptive to what I brought up (Palestine, Ukraine, imperialism and the labour aristocracy, the inevitability of capitalism’s downfall (falling rate of profit, etc…), the human catastrophe that was the illegal dissolution of the USSR, the role of fascism in preserving capitalism, the fundamentally neoliberal nature of the EU, and the PRC’s great successes in poverty alleviation, green energy and public infrastructure). I didn’t start too overly Marx-pilled but after it seemed that they had an open-mind on Communism I ended up just speaking genuinely about these subjects without much filters, but they seemed interested all throughout and frequently asked questions. I’m very happy, it doesn’t happen often that I get to be talk about Marxism so openly and feeling like I actually helped someone to understand it!
There’s a mod that adds classic literature and things like this to Project Zomboid - I want a mod that does the same for games and movies. The game takes place in '93, I think you should be able to acquire SNES / Genesis / PC etc. games as well as movies that came out by then, and play them with a TV and console / computer / VCR. It would be like the first Animal Crossing where you could get a few NES games and play them in your house, and it would make Zomboid way more fun because you’d have so much more incentive to explore. When playing a game or movie, the game should move at real time, instead of the usual sped-up game time.
Yes I know I could just pretend to find games or whatever and pause the game to boot up a rom or whatever, but it’s not the same and you and I both know it.
That Frirish MWoG regular is obsessed with me, even directly explaining why they didn’t post me in an unrelated MWoG post because it would be “too easy.” Like, it borders on obssessive. Rent-free.
things are never ever going to get easier or better. i dont think i would have the energy to live a normal life thirty years ago before the working class got squeezed into nothing, and i certainly don’t have the energy for it now
5·3 hours ago
aaaaaaaaaaaa I fucking hate HTML and EPUBs and fixing OCRI saw both Dune movies on the same day when the second part came out. I thought they were very good, I enjoyed them, but I never read the books, or engaged with the fandom. I was happy to let Dune be just a couple of good movies to me.
SO WHY DOES DUNE KEEP APPEARING IN MY HEAD? I keep having dreams where something from Dune is involved. I dreamt about killing a sandworm by crashing a train into it last week. I dreamt about being the Lisan Al-Gaib. Whenever I walk funny I think “sandwalking”. How do I have Dune brainrot? I’ve literally had the bare minimum engagement with Dune and for some reason it haunts me. I think Frank Herbert is sending me psychic messages from beyond the grave, telling me to read more Dune so his estate gets more money. Maybe I will, Frank Herbert.
I have broken free from the prison of the demiurge. Adios.
deleted by creator
Here’s a crazy story, man couldn’t get anyone to believe his identity was stolen. Ends up being imprisoned, locked in mental ward and ordered to use a name that’s not his.
From DOJ press release:
spoiler
An Iowa hospital administrator who lived under a false identity for more than 30 years and caused the false imprisonment, involuntary hospitalization, and forced medication of his victim was sentenced today to 12 years in federal prison.
Matthew David Keirans, age 59, from Hartland, Wisconsin, received the prison term after an April 1, 2024, guilty plea to one count of false statement to a national credit union administration insured institution and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Evidence presented at hearings in the case established that Keirans and his identity theft victim worked together at a hotdog cart in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the late 1980s. Keirans assumed the victim’s identity and, for the next three decades, used that identity in every aspect of his life. Keirans obtained several false documents in the victim’s name, including a Kentucky birth certificate.
In 2013, Keirans obtained employment as a high-level administrator in an Iowa City hospital. Keirans provided the hospital with false identification documents during the hiring process, including a fictitious I-9 form, social security number, date of birth, and other identification documents in his victim’s name. After getting hired, Keirans worked for the hospital remotely from his residence in Wisconsin. Keirans’ access to, and roles in, the system architecture of the hospital’s computer infrastructure were “the highest it could be,” and Keirans “was the key administrator of critical systems.”
Between March 2014 and May 2022, Keirans repeatedly obtained vehicle and personal loans from two credit unions in the Northern District of Iowa using the victim’s name, social security number, and date of birth. Keirans obtained nine loans with a total value of over $250,000 from the credit unions. Keirans also obtained various lines of credit from other lenders in the victim’s name and with his personal identifiers.
Keirans also maintained deposits at a national bank in the victim’s name. In August 2019, the victim, who was homeless at the time, entered the branch of the national bank in Los Angeles, California, and told a branch manager that he had recently discovered that someone was using his credit and had accumulated large amounts of debt. The victim stated that he did not want to pay the debt and wished to close his accounts at the bank. The victim presented the bank with his true social security card, as well as an authentic State of California identification card. Due to the large amount of currency in the accounts, the branch manager asked the victim a series of security questions, which the victim was unable to answer. The national bank then called the Los Angeles Police Department (“LAPD”).
LAPD officers spoke with Keirans on the telephone, who stated he lived in Wisconsin and did not give anyone in California permission to access his bank accounts. After faxing the LAPD a series of phony identification documents, the LAPD arrested Keirans’ victim on two felony charges. After Keirans requested his victim’s prosecution, the victim was charged in Keirans’ name and held without bail at the Los Angeles County Jail.
In the ensuing months, Keirans contacted the LAPD and Los Angeles District Attorney (LADA) numerous times requesting updates on the victim’s prosecution. Meanwhile, Keirans’ victim continued to assert throughout the California criminal proceedings that he was not Keirans. A California state court judge ultimately found Keirans’ victim was not mentally competent to stand trial and ordered Keirans’ victim to a California mental hospital. The California state court also ordered Keirans’ victim to receive psychotropic medication.
In March 2021, Keirans’ victim pled “no contest” to the two felony charges in exchange for a “time-served” sentence, a $400 fine, and immediate release from custody. In total, Keirans’ victim spent 428 days in county jail and 147 days in the mental hospital as a result of Keirans’ false reports to the LAPD and LADA. The state court also ordered Keirans’ victim to “use only their true name, Matthew Keirans” in the future.
After his release from jail and hospital, Keirans’ victim made numerous attempts to regain his identity. For his part, Keirans continued to make false reports and statements to law enforcement officials in Wisconsin and California. The State of California billed the victim over $118,000 for the costs of his “care” in the mental hospital between October 20, 2021, and March 15, 2021.
In January 2023, after learning where Keirans was employed, the victim contacted the Iowa City hospital’s security department about Keirans. The hospital referred Keirans’ complaint to a local law enforcement agency, which assigned an experienced detective, Ian Mallory, to investigate the victim’s complaint. The detective conducted an investigation and, over the course of the ensuing months, unraveled Keirans’ identity theft scheme. Among other things, the detective obtained DNA evidence that conclusively proved that Keirans was not the son of an elderly man in Kentucky, as Keirans had claimed, but that Keirans’ victim was the man’s son.
During an interview with the detective in July 2023, Keirans initially insisted that the victim was “crazy” and “needed help and should be locked up.” After the detective presented Keirans with the results of the DNA testing, however, Keirans confessed to the three-decade identity theft scheme. Keirans also admitted to providing fraudulent documents to authorities in Los Angeles from his residence in Wisconsin to aid in the arrest, prosecution, and incarceration of the victim. A California court ultimately exonerated the victim after Keirans pled guilty in federal court.
Keirans was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Keirans was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment and fined $10,000. He was ordered to make $6,191 in restitution the victim and ordered to repay $10,000 in court-appointed attorney fees. Keirans must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Williams said Keirans’ crime was “egregious,” “callous,” and “Kafkaesque.” Chief Judge Williams stated Keirans “weaponized the criminal justice system to achieve his goals.” Chief Judge Williams praised the “remarkable and exceptional work” of the Iowa detective.
