15 Great Types of Avocado Trees

Avocados are popular because they are full of healthy fats that are good for your heart. They also taste yummy and can be found in a variety of snacks and other dishes. If you’re considering growing an avocado tree, there are a few things that you should know beforehand.

Avocados are fruits that are sometimes called avocado pears or alligator pears. They are technically a type of berry with one large seed inside and they offer dozens of ways to enjoy the many vitamins found inside them.

The avocado’s fleshy body can be shaped like an egg, pear-shaped, or even spherical in design. The trees that these fruits grow on are self-pollinating and it is likely that they originated in south-central Mexico. In fact, Mexico now produces one-third of the world’s avocados.

Although mostly associated with guacamole, avocados are, in fact, used in numerous other dishes as well. They are eaten raw most of the time and can be found in vegetarian cuisine and in many dishes and desserts. They are also popular throughout the world.

Avocado trees are easy to grow provided that you’re in the right area. Although they can usually withstand temperatures around 25ᵒ Fahrenheit, they do need lots of sun to grow and thrive. If you’re curious about the many different types of avocado trees, read on.

1. Bacon Avocado Trees

Bacon avocados have medium thin skin and fruit that is tasty and green. The trees can get up to three feet or higher and are usually ready to pick between December and January. If the area you live in experiences few freezing temperatures, this is a great avocado tree to choose.

The fruit of the tree normally gets to around 12 ounces in size and the tree is a medium-sized tree that sits upright. They do best when you do not overwater them, and they thrive in sunny locations that don’t get too much wind.

This is also an attractive tree with dark, glossy leaves and fruit that demands attention. They are best for growing in zones 9-11, and they are perfect for many modern diets, including the keto diet.

2. Gwen Avocado Trees

Gwen avocado trees can grow up to 15 feet tall and produce large fruit that is thick and green on the outside and greenish-gold in the middle. The fruit has a buttery and nut-like flavor with a small to medium-sized seed.

Avocado types such as these prefer full sun but will survive in temperatures that get as low as 30ᵒ Fahrenheit. Gwen avocados are plump and oval-shaped with a pebble-like texture on the outside and they can get up to 15 ounces in size.

As with other avocados, the Gwen avocado trees prefer full sun and do best in well-drained soil and little to no wind. They taste yummy and can be used in many of the same recipes as the Hass variety, with which they have a lot in common.

3. Hass Avocado Trees

The Hass avocado is perhaps the most well known of all avocados and it has familiar pebble-like skin that turns blackish-purple when it’s fully ripe. It can get up to 12 ounces in size and has a long ripening season that lasts from April to September.

Hass avocado trees get up to around three feet in height and should be grown in areas that get a lot of sun. Of all the avocados grown commercially, most are of the Hass variety. It has an exquisite flavor and is known for its high-quality oil.

Hass avocados also do best when temperatures stay above freezing, which is why they are commonly grown in areas such as Mexico and California.

4. Pinkerton Avocado Trees

These trees get up to three feet in height and have fruit with slightly pebble-like skin and green flesh. They are also quite large, growing up to roughly 16 ounces in size. They ripen between November and April and have a wonderful rich flavor.

Pinkerton avocados are shaped similarly to long pears, have small seeds, and yield a lot of fruit when compared to many other avocado trees. From winter through the spring they will ripen and they can be as small as 8 ounces or as large as 18 ounces in size.

As with other avocado types, these trees do best when exposed to a lot of sun. The many different sizes available mean they truly offer something for everyone.

5. Brogdon Avocado Trees

Brogdon avocados can either be oval or pear-shaped and have thin purple skin and flesh that is buttery yellow in color. Unlike many other avocado trees, the Brogdon avocado trees can handle very cold weather as long as it doesn’t last too long.

The Brogdon avocado can be as small as 14 ounces or as large as 24 ounces in size, and it is a very popular type of avocado. It has a nut-like flavor that people find very tasty. In areas such as Florida, the avocados ripen from July to September.

These trees were first developed in the 1930s and many experts believe that they are a cross between the Mexican avocados and the cultivars found in the West Indies.

6. Fuerte Avocado Trees

Available from mid-winter to early spring, the Fuerte avocado is a hybrid that was first propagated in the early 1900s in California. The name is Spanish for “strong” and it got its name because it survived a particularly hard frost in 1913.

Fuerte avocados are pear-shaped and have green skins and flesh that is dense and pale in color. Their flavor is rich and creamy and they can get anywhere from 6 to 12 ounces in size. Its skin is also very smooth and medium-thin in thickness.

The trees themselves are one of the most cold-hardy varieties of avocado trees. The leaves tend to have a pleasant anise flavor that many people enjoy just as much as they enjoy the fruit of these trees.

7. Stewart Avocado Trees

The Stewart is one of those avocado types that doesn’t get very tall but it does well in cold temperatures and is a very strong tree that has a very attractive spread to it. The fruit itself can get up to 10 ounces in size and the flesh has a pleasant nutty flavor.

Stewart avocados are pear-shaped and have skin that is thin, smooth, and dark in color. The tree needs full sun to grow, prefers little to no wind, and usually grows to around three feet in height. The fruit ripens from late fall to early winter.

The Stewart avocado is also a hybrid variety and has skin that is dark purple in color and flesh that is greenish-yellow in color.

8. Reed Avocado Trees

These trees can grow well in cold weather but are frost-sensitive once temperatures get down to 32ᵒ Fahrenheit or below. One of the most distinctive features of the Reed avocado is its flavor, which is one of the best of all the avocados in existence.

Reed avocados are large, round, and green in color, getting up to roughly 18 ounces in size. The trees are medium-sized, stand upright, and have a late fruit season. The fully mature tree can get up to 20 feet high in many instances.

Between its rich flavor and its beautiful green color, there is little wonder why Reed avocados are so popular and they are as easy to grow as most other avocado trees.

9. Lamb Hass Avocado Trees

The Lamb Hass avocado is similar to the Hass variety in numerous ways, including its dark purplish skin and bumpy appearance. It is actually a cross between the Hass avocado and the Gwen avocado, the latter being a dwarf variety.

Lamb Hass avocado trees can get up to 26 feet in height when they are fully mature and it is a high-yielding tree with fruit that is of the highest quality. The tree is compact and stands upright. The ripening season is from April to November.

Lamb Hass avocados get up to 16 ounces in size and are very tasty. The trees, as with other avocado trees, do best with full sun and little to no wind.

10. Mexicola Grande Avocado Trees

Thanks to its paper-thin skin, the Mexicola Grande avocado is one of the easiest avocados to peel. It can withstand temperatures down to 20ᵒ Fahrenheit and it ripens from late summer through mid-winter. The mature trees can get up to 30 feet high.

The fruit has a creamy, delicate flavor that people adore and the trees are fast-growing evergreens, which means that you won’t have to wait long to enjoy everything they have to offer. As with other avocado types, the trees grow best in full sun and with little to no wind.

11. Holiday Avocado Trees

Holiday avocado trees are Guatemalan-type trees that are so named because their fruits ripen somewhere between Labor Day and New Year’s Day. The mature trees get up to 16 feet in height and the fruit itself is green, pear-shaped, and between 18 to 24 ounces in size.

Holiday avocado trees are hardy down to around 30ᵒ Fahrenheit and they prefer full sun and well-drained soil. Keep in mind that all avocado trees are happiest when planted in the ground so if you purchase one in a container, don’t keep it there for long.

12. Sir Prize Avocado Trees

Usually growing up to 30 feet or so in height, the Sir Prize avocado tree has fruit with black skin similar to the Hass and it ripens in the winter time before the Hass does. The fruit gets from 10 to 20 ounces in size and never oxidizes when you cut it or refrigerate it.

Because the fruit is so large and the seed is small, the Sir Prize avocado is a very popular type of fruit. It has a texture similar to butter and a nutty, fruity-like flavor. Its skin is also very easily separated from the flesh so it is super easy to peel.

Although the Sir Prize avocado tree is better with cold temperatures than the Hass variety, the two are still very similar in many ways. This includes their taste and their overall outward appearance.

13. Zutano Avocado Trees

With beautiful green, medium-thin skin and a 12-ounce size, the Zutano avocado ripens from November to January and is also used as a pollinator for Hass avocados in a lot of orchards. The tree is cold-hardy down to around 26ᵒ Fahrenheit and gets up to roughly 35 feet in height.

Indeed, if you prefer attractive, upright trees that do well even when it’s near freezing outside, the Zutano avocado tree is definitely one to consider. Its dark green, glossy leaves add to its beauty and its tiny greenish-white flowers are a sight to behold.

14. Del Rio (Pryor) Avocado Trees

Of all of the Mexican avocado types, the Del Rio is the most cold-tolerant and one of the tastiest avocados in existence. In the 1980s, the tree froze when it got down to 7ᵒ Fahrenheit in Del Rio, Texas and grew back again as a fruiting tree.

The fruit of the Del Rio tree, also called the Pryor tree, is small and only gets to around four ounces in size. Of all the Mexican varieties, this one has the highest oil content and the most luscious flavor that all avocado lovers will enjoy.

15. Linda Avocado Trees

Ripening in late winter through the early spring months, Linda avocados can weigh up to two pounds and have either a round or an oval shape. The skin is thick, bumpy, and deep purple in color while the flesh is light yellow and has a buttery texture and a nut-like flavor.

The Linda avocado tree can get up to nearly 40 feet in height and produces fruit regularly with medium to heavy yields. As with other avocado types, the Linda avocado types need well-drained soil, lots of sun, and, if possible, little to no wind in order to produce properly.

One of the things that makes Linda avocados a little different than many other avocados is that they do not ripen before they are picked but after the harvesting takes place. Yet another aspect that sets them apart is the fact that Linda avocado trees have been known to get up to nearly 80 feet high.