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In Memory of the Mother Tree
The Hass Mother Tree, as she was known, began life as a lucky-find by A.R. Rideout of Whittier, California, an avid avocado advocate devoted to planting found seeds along streets or in the yards of his neighbors.
Then, in the late 1920s, Rudolph Hass, a postman, bought a seedling from Rideout to plant in his new orchard.
At first Hass sought to graft other varieties onto the tree but failed. He was about to cut it down but local lore states that his children talked him out of it. They told him they preferred the richer texture and nuttier taste of the bumpy black fruit to that of the smooth green Fuerte, the common variety at the time.
So Hass named the variety after himself, took out a patent, and signed an agreement with a local nurseryman to grow and promote the new type of avocado.
Success was immediate.The Hass variety bore more fruit than the Fuerte and matured at a different time of year giving it a great seasonal advantage.
The patent Rudolph Hass acquired expired in the same year he did: 1952. The now world-famous Hass Mother Tree lived out her days in suburban Southern California until she was taken from us by root-rot in 2002 .
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