PTP_2008_07

Plants That Produce

Is There A Guava In Your Future?

By Richard Frost

This month we explore fruiting plants named Guava. Unlike the Sapote-named fruits discussed last month, nearly all the guava-named fruits are members of the Myrtle (Myrtaceae) family. They are also all native to the Americas and most are hardy right here in San Diego.

The Tropical Guava (Psidium guajava) grows as a vigorous shrub or a small tree with many root suckers. It is deciduous in our mild winters but perishes below 25 °F. The fruit is at least two inches in diameter and has either a round or elongated pear shape. The flesh of the fruit smells a bit like tamarind, and if you don’t like the idea of a drop of steak sauce on a pear then you might not like the taste of this fruit. It is delicious eaten out of hand or sliced onto salads with diced walnuts. The cultivars ‘Tropic Pink’ and ‘Tropic White’ are available in nurseries from spring through summer. Both are excellent quality fruits. The cultivar ‘Beaumont’ is grown commercially in Mexico and available here locally, but ranks lower in taste tests.

The Cattleya Guava (Psidium cattleianum) was not a food source for natives of the Americas, but when imported to India and Malaysia became a staple for making sweet & sour sauces, chutneys, and preserves. It has a seedy fruit about one inch in diameter with a sour taste. The Cattleya Guava is sold in nurseries as ‘Strawberry Guava’, ‘Lemon Guava’, ‘Cherry Guava’, etc. Product tags from the wholesaler La Verne and others misclassify the plant as P. guajava.

The Pineapple Guava (Acca sellowiana, syn. Feijoa sellowiana) is a beautiful landscape plant with edible flowers and fruit. It is hardy to 5 °F. The leaves are grey-green on top and silver underneath. It puts on a showy display of red and white flowers in the spring followed by 3-inch fruits that resemble kiwis. Many cultivars of this plant need a pollinator to develop a crop. The well-known variety ‘Coolidge’ fills this role well and also produces good quality fruit. ‘Nazemetz’ was bred in San Diego and is considered the best tasting cultivar. The varieties ‘Lickvers Pride’ and ‘Moore’ are also excellent choices.

The Chilean Guava (Ugni molinae) is also a beautiful landscape plant. The red fruits are round, 1 inch in size, ornamental in appearance, and a tropical treat. The leaves are oblong, pointed, and forest green in color. It is hardy to about 15 °F and reportedly pest-free in the western U.S.

There are also many minor guava-named plants worth mentioning. The Red Guava is a rare Eugenia (E. nutans) from Argentina with a strong but excellent taste. The entire Genus Myrciaria has the common name “Guavaberry” and includes the Jaboticaba (M. jaboticaba). In the Genus Psidium, all of the 36 recognized species have “guava” as part of their common name, such as P. guineense, the Brazilian Guava. The Sperry Guava (Eugenia corozalensis) is native to the U.S. and sold as a perennial ornamental shrub. And finally, the name Yerba Guava is applied to 3 different Rubiacées (Coccocypselum herbaceum, Geophila repens, and Peperomia cogniauxii) that are grown as ornamental shrubs in the Caribbean.

SDHS member Richard Frost is also member of the California Rare Fruit Growers. For more information, see www.plantsthatproduce.com.