Discription of Wilson Popenoe for nomination to the Ark of Taste.   

Submitted by Helen Violi, PhD. 

Name of product: The ‘Wilson Popenoe’ avocado.

Category: Fruit

Brief description:
No one has done more to popularize avocado in the United States than Wilson
Popenoe. As a young man, Popenoe traveled the Americas importing a broad
diversity of tropical fruits into the United States and aiding in agricultural
development throughout Central America. Wilson Popenoe imported several of his
"favorite" avocados to Florida within his long career. Unlike most oily
commercial varieties, the ‘Popenoe’ avocado is lighter, enormous (up to a pound
each), has a shiny green skin, grow well in humid sub-tropical and tropical
areas and also have great flavor and creamy texture.

Avocado has risen in popularity over the last decade but production is globally
strongly dominated by the ‘Hass’ avocado. ‘Hass’ is best adapted to
Mediterranean climates but has managed to displace sub-tropical and tropical
avocado in the Americas. Avocados are extraordinarily diverse. Their diversity
can be attributed to their long history as an important food and trade item
among early American peoples and also the different climactic conditions under
which people selected for desirable fruit qualities. The first archeological
evidence of avocado use dates back to the Tehuacan Valley in Puebla between
8,000-7,000 B.C. Avocado diversity is now threatened not only by global market
demands for ‘Hass’ but also by the rapid spread of non-native, invasive
pathogens for which avocado has no “natural” resistance. These pathogens, namely
Phytophthora cinnamomi, cause a serious root rot, decreasing yields globally and
even leading to the loss of entire avocado germplasm banks. While massive
efforts to protect commercial operations have been executed, germplasm banks and
homegardens throughout the Americas where the majority of avocado diversity are
housed, have not been as well protected.

Thanks in great part to the efforts of Wilson Popenoe, and the famous botanist
and his sometime employer, David Fairchild, South Florida became a melting pot
for tropical and sub-tropical avocados in the early and mid 1900’s. Humid
tropical and sub-tropical avocados are broadly called West Indian Avocados. The
protection of West Indian avocado germplasm is essential to sustaining this
valuable high calorie and nutritious food for people in sub-tropical and
tropical areas. Only three ‘Popenoe’ avocado trees are thought to exist in Miami
and Honduras today. Two are in Miami, one in the USDA collection and the other
in the private Krome Family collection. The tree in the USDA collection has been
infected with the avocado sunblotch viroid (which causes a serious disease in
avocado) and, consequently, it can not be distributed. The third may be at the
Lancetilla Botanical Garden and Research Center, an agricultural research center
in Honduras founded by Wilson Popenoe. There is also one report of a grove in
Venezuela that produces ‘Popenoe’ avocados. The ‘Popenoe’ avocado symbolizes the
unique agricultural history of Maimi and the extraordinary diversity of the
avocado.

Historic area of production:

Imported from Tela Honduras on February 25th 1929 by Wilson Popenoe and from the
Lancetilla Botanical Garden and Research Center by H. F. Winters in December
19th 1966 to Miami, Florida.

Is the product produced in the historic production area?

Clonal reproduction of this cultivar has been very limited and distribution by
seed has historically been more common for non-commercial avocados in Florida
and Honduras. Avocados phenotypically similar to the ‘Popenoe’ can be found in
Miami yards and are sold by street vendors who typically pay small prices to
collect fruit from these trees. Such fruits are popular among Central and South
American immigrants but much of the public has been unexposed to West Indian
avocados.