262 



MYRTACEAE. 



2. Eugenia uniflora L. SURINAM 

 CHERRY. (Fig. 282.) A shrub or 

 small tree up to 15 high, with slen- 

 der branches. Leaves ovate to ovate- 

 lanceolate, dark green and shining 

 above, paler beneath, bluntly acute or 

 acuminate at the apex, rounded at 

 the base, dotted, thin in texture, 1'- 

 2A' long; pedicels solitary or few to- 

 gether, glabrous, about 1' long; calyx- 

 lobes obtusish; petals about twice as 

 long as the calyx-lobes; fruit sub- 

 globose, furrowed, 4" 5" in diameter, 

 bright-red, spicy, edible. [E. Michelii 

 Lam. ; E. TJgni of Eeade and of H. B. 

 Small; E. brasiliensis of Eeade?] 



Thickets and hillsides. Naturalized. 

 Native of South America. Flowers in 

 spring. Its fruit is much used for pre- 

 serves and jellies, but as it harbors the 

 fruit fly, the tree has been largely cut 

 out in recent years. 



Eugenia floribunda "West, GUAVA-BERRY, West Indian, occasionally planted 

 for interest and for its fruits, is a small slender tree, with short-petioled, 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate leaves l'-2*' long, clustered, axillary or lateral, 

 nearly sessile small white flowers and globose fruits about i' in diameter. 



2. PSIDIUM L. 



Trees or shrubs with pinnately-veined leaves and large axillary or lateral, 

 solitary or clustered flowers. Calyx-tube somewhat prolonged beyond the 

 ovary, its 4 or 5 lobes often united in the bud, irregularly parting at anthesis. 

 Petals 4 or 5, spreading. Stamens numerous, with filiform filaments in sev- 

 eral series. Ovary 4-5-celled ; ovules several or many in each cavity. Embryo 

 curved, with small cotyledons and a long radicle. [Greek, referring to the 

 edible fruit.] About 100 species, the following typical. 



1. Psidium Guaj ava L. GTJAVA. 

 (Fig. 283.) A shrub, or a small 

 tree sometimes 15 tall, with pubes- 

 cent 4-angled branchlets. Leaves 

 firm-leathery, oblong or nearly so, 

 li'-4' long, mostly obtuse, pubes- 

 cent beneath, with prominent rib- 

 like nerves, short-petioled; calyx- 

 lobes 5"-7" long, united in the 

 bud; petals 7"-10" long; berries 

 globular or pyriform, l'-2i' in 

 diameter. [P. pomiferum L.) 



Commonly planted. Locally es- 

 caped from cultivation and natural- 

 ized. Native of tropical America. 

 Flowers in summer. Its fruits much 

 used for the well-known guava jelly. 



