Who scientifically named Persea americana in 1768?

Philip Miller scientifically named Persea americana in 1768. The British botanist and horticulturist published the species in the eighth edition of The Gardeners Dictionary, giving the avocado its formal binomial name.

Persea is the genus, while americana identifies the plant as American in origin. The avocado belongs to the laurel family, Lauraceae, alongside cinnamon and bay laurel. Its fruit is botanically a single-seeded berry, not a stone fruit, despite its large pit-like seed.

Miller’s naming predates the modern dominance of named cultivars such as Hass. “Avocado” refers to the species and its many cultivated varieties; Hass is only one cultivar within Persea americana. Carl Linnaeus, sometimes chosen as a distractor because he established modern biological nomenclature, did not author this species name.