In an Altadena Backyard, the Plants of Mexico Take Root

Miguel Gutierrez shows one of his Fuerte avocados (Photo – Christopher Nyerges)

Was the Fuerte avocado propagated in Altadena from Mexican stock?

By Christopher Nyerges

By day, Altadena resident Miguel Gutierrez is a professor of Chicana/o Studies at CSU Dominguez Hills. One of his many interests is studying and cultivating the traditional herbs of Mexico, many of which he grows in his backyard.

Although his family’s Altadena home survived the January 2025 Eaton Fire, they were displaced and temporarily relocated to Nebraska. Gutierrez has since returned to Altadena most of the time, where he teaches, tends his garden, and cares for his honeybees.

One afternoon, he gave a tour of his modest backyard.

“Nopales, or prickly pear cactus, are one of the most iconic plants of Mexico,” says Gutierrez. “It’s on the Mexican coat of arms and in the ancient glyph representing the Aztec/Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan.”

Gutierrez grows several varieties of prickly pear cactus (Opuntia), whose fruits and fleshy pads are widely used in Mexican cooking and traditional medicine. “Western medicine is finally coming around to the benefits of eating nopales as one of the best ways to deal with diabetes,” he says.

Gutierrez also grows several herbs used for teas. Some, such as damiana, are difficult to obtain and challenging to cultivate. The plant is native to regions along the Texas–Mexico border and in Mexico’s central highlands.

Another herb, epazote, originated in Mexico but is now found throughout North America. Though inconspicuous, it is prized for flavoring beans and traditionally is believed to help reduce gas.

“And did you know that the Fuerte avocado began here in Altadena from Mexican stock?” Gutierrez asks.

He points to his thriving Fuerte avocado tree and explains that  botanist Carl Schmidt, who worked for the West India Gardens in Altadena, traveled in 1911 to Atlixco, in the Mexican state of Puebla, in search of avocado budwood. By 1913, Schmidt had developed the Fuerte avocado in a nursery less than a mile from Gutierrez’s Altadena home.

(L) The somewhat-difficult-to grow Epazote plant, used to season beans. (R) Prickly pear cactus fruits and pads have long been a part of Mexican cuisine and medicine. (Photos – Christopher Nyerges)