336 ROBINSON. 



7. PSIDIUM Linn. 



Leaves 4.5-15 cm long ]. /'. tjuujarn 



Leaves 2-3.5 cm long 2. P.pu mU um 



1. Psidium guajava Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) 470. 



P. pomiferum Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 2 (1762) 672. 



P. pyriferum Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 2 (1762) 672. 



P. (imiNiilicinn Blanco Fl. Filip. (1837) 417; nee Aubl. PI. Guian. 1 (1775) 

 485, nee Descourt. Fl. Med. Antill. 5 (1827) 229. 



A very early introduction from tropical America. Mercado, writing upon the 

 medicinal plants of the Philippines, near the end of the seventeenth century, has 

 a long article upon its uses, with no reference to its introduction or distribution 

 in these Islands. Camel, at the very beginning of the eighteenth century, makes 

 no reference to it in the text, but in the list of plants dealt with has "Quaiabas" 

 placed with species belonging to Eugenia, 



Blanco believed that it was undoubtedly indigenous, as stems and leaves which 

 he positively identified with it, had been found in volcanic deposits of a period 

 prior to the Spanish occupation. No such material is known to be preserved, and 

 no direct opinion can be pronounced, but in view of the similarity of the Leaves 

 of several other species to those of the guava, and the general improbability of 

 any other than an American origin, there is no sufficient reason to depart from 

 the generally accepted opinion. It appears to be much more widely spread in 

 the Philippines than elsewhere in the East, which may indicate that this was 

 the first Asiatic country into which it was introduced, as might have been expected 

 on the hasis of American origin. 



At present, it is not only cultivated, but extremely common in clearings and 

 former clearings throughout the Islands. The localities represented in this her 

 barium are the Provinces of Cagayan, lsabela, Ilocos Sur, Union, Benguet, Bula 

 can, Bataan, Rizal, Laguna, Tayabas, Camarines, and Albay, in Luzon; Mindoro, 

 Panay, Cebu, Negros, Palawan, and Basilan, and the Lanao and Davao districts 

 of Mindanao. Both varieties are represented. 



Known as (,' iiai/abax or Bayabas, sometimes as (liiava. The fruit is used in 

 many ways. 



Cosmopolitan in the Tropics. 



2. Psidium pumilum Vahl Symb. Bot. 2 (1791) 56. 

 Luzon, Province of Rizal, Bosoboso, Bur. Sci. 103J/ Ramo*. 

 Also introduced and known by the same names. 



S. DECASPERMUM Forst. 



Flowers solitary in the leaf-axils, rarely in 3's and then cymose 1. D. blancui 



Flowers in leafy panicles 2. D. paniculatum 



1. Decaspermum blancoi Vidal Phan. Cuming. Philip. (1885) 172. 



Myrtus communis Blanco Fl. Filip. (1837) 422: non Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) 471. 



Nelitris rubra Vidal Sinops. Atlas (1883) xxvi, pi. 50, f. C: non Blume Mas. 

 Bot. Lugd.-Bat. 1 (1851) 73. 



Decaspermum rubrinn K.-Vill. Noviss. App. (1880) 84; non Baill. Hist. PI. 6 

 (1877) 341. 



Luzon, Province of Pangasinan, Balungao, Merrill 2862: Province of Principe, 

 Baler, Merrill 1091: Province of Zambales, Bakilan, For. Bur. 7002 Curran; 

 Subig, Merrill 2097: Province of Bataan, Mount Mariveles, Lamao River, Merrill 

 S890, For. Bur. 1331 Borden, For. Bur. 12^01 Merritt tt- Curran: Province of 

 Tayabas, Cuming 801 : Province of Albay, Batan Island, Calanaga, Bur. Sci. 6282 

 Robinson. 



