Hass (avocado)

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Persea americana 'Hass'

Cultivar
'Hass'
Origin
Seedling of Persea americana, California, 1926

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Hass is a cultivar of avocado with dark-colored, bumpy skin. It is correctly pronounced like hass in "hassle", not the commonly misspelled "Haas".

It is the most important avocado in the commercial market worldwide. In the United States, it accounts for more than 80% of the avocado crop, and it is also the most widely grown avocado in New Zealand.

It produces a medium-sized fruit, weighing 200-300 g. The skin turns a dark, purplish-black when ripe, while the skin of "green" cultivars remains green. When ripe, it yields to gentle pressure; soft avocados are generally considered over-ripe and possibly rancid.

All Hass avocado trees are related to a single "Mother Tree" which was grown from a sack of seeds purchased from A. R. Rideout of Whittier, California, by a Pasadena, California, mail carrier named Rudolph Hass. Mr Rideout showed Mr Hass, who had no horticultural training, how to grow the seeds into seedlings and in 1926, Hass planted the seedlings at his 1.8 acre grove at 430 West Road, La Habra Heights, California. After two attempts to graft the seedling over to the Fuerte variety failed, Mr Caulkins, who was doing the grafting said "let it grow and see what happens". That proved to be the advice that changed the avocado industry. Mr Hass patented the tree in 1935 and made a contract with Mr Brokaw to grow and distribute the trees. Although Mr Hass made less than $5,000 profit from the patent, the avocado industry has made billions from the heavy bearing, high quality fruit. All Hass avocados can be traced back to grafts made from the "Mother Tree" that died of root rot in 2002. A plaque on West Road marks the spot where it grew.