2848 



PSIDIUM 



PSIDIUM 



in a broad cluster, the filaments about %in. long, 

 anthers pale straw-colored; style about jH$in. high, 

 stigma subcapitate, greenish: fr. globose, ovoid or 

 pyriform, 1-4 in. long, commonly yellowish in color 

 with flesh varying from whitish or yellowish to deep 

 pink; flavor sweet or somewhat acid, with a pronounced 

 musky aroma; seeds usually numerous, reniform or 

 flattened. Flowers most abundantly in spring and pro- 

 duces the main crop of frs. in Aug. and Sept. Mex. and 

 Cent. Amer., perhaps as far south as Peru. This 

 species is variable, and occurs in a wide range of horti- 

 cultural forms. The two species pyriferum and pom- 

 iferum of Linnaeus are considered to be nothing more 

 than round and pear-shaped varieties, and are no longer 

 accorded botanical standing. A large guava, which 

 appears to be a horticultural form of this species, was 

 formerly offered by Reasoner Bros, of Fla. under the 

 name of P. guineense, but is now being called Guinea 

 guava and referred to P. Guajava. It is a large sweet 

 fr. of excellent flavor, with unusually few seeds and 

 thick flesh. In Calif, this variety has been called P. 

 guianense. A round red-fleshed guava intro. to Calif, 

 by Franceschi under the name of P. aromdticum also 

 appears to be a horticultural variety of P. Guajava. 

 The variety Perico has been disseminated in Fla.; other 

 forms are commonly listed by nurserymen 

 under such names as "sweet," "sour," "red- 

 fleshed," and the like. In Calif., where this 

 species is less commonly grown than in Fla., 

 an oval yellow-fleshed form is called lemon 

 guava, a pyriform white-fleshed one is known 

 as pear guava, and a yellow one with pink flesh is 

 called Hawaiian guava. 



The name guayaba, by which the fruit is known in 

 Spanish (the plant guayabo) is generally considered to 

 have come from the island of Santo Domingo. Both 

 Barbosa Rodrigues and Tavares, however, assert that it 

 originated with the Tupi Indians in Brazil. In French 

 the fruit is called goyave, the plant goyavier; in Portu- 

 gese goiaba, the plant goiabeira; and in German gujaya, 

 the plant gujavabaum. The aboriginal name in Mexico 

 is xalxocotl, meaning sand-apple or sand-plum. Xocotl 

 was the name applied by the Aztecs to all sour fruits, in 

 contradistinction to zapotl which indicated all sweet 

 ones. 



Friedrichsthalianum, Niedenzu (Calyptropsidium 

 Friedrichsthalidnum, Berg). COSTA RICAN GUAVA. CAS. 

 Tree, 25-35 ft. high, with rather slender branches and 

 smooth, dark brown bark, the young branchlets dark- 

 colored, slightly pubescent: Ivs. oval or oblong-oval, 

 lJ^-3 in. long, acuminate, the base acute, deep green, 

 thickly chartaceous, smooth, almost glossy above, 

 puberulent below, sparsely pellucid-punctate, midrib 

 prominent below: peduncles axillary on the young 

 branchlets, 1-fld.; petals 5, suborbicular; stigma pel- 

 tate; ovary 5-locular: frs. globose, small, sour. Costa 

 Rica, Guatemala, and probably other parts of Cent. 

 Amer. Of comparatively recent intro. into the U. S. 

 It grows well in S. Fla., but seems too tender for most 

 parts of S. Calif. It may succeed in protected loca- 

 tions. The frs. are considered especially valuable for 

 jelly-making, because of their acidity. A plant which 

 has been disseminated in this country under the name 

 of P. laurifblium, intro. from Trinidad, appears to be 

 this species. 



molle, Bertol. GUISARO. SOUR GUISARO. GUAYABA 

 ACID A. Shrub or small tree, of rather slender growth, 

 the young branchlets, peduncles, and lower surfaces of 

 the Ivs. reddish velvety: Ivs. oblong-oval, 3-5 in. long, 

 the apex obtuse, apiculate, base obtuse or shortly 

 acute, rigidly chartaceous, light green, puberulent 

 above: peduncles erect, 3-fld.; ovary 4-locular: fr. 

 globose, about 1 in. thick, pale yellow when fully ripe, 

 with whitish pulp containing many rather small seeds. 

 The flavor is acid and not especially agreeable. S. 



Mex. and Cent. Amer. This species has been offered 

 in Fla. for years but has never been extensively planted. 

 It is fairly hardy, and has been grown in Calif. It 

 fruits very prolifically, its season being late summer. 



AA. Branchlets terete. 



Araca, Raddi. BRAZILIAN GUAVA. ARA^A DO 

 CAMPO. Large shrub, the young branchlets hirsute: 

 Ivs. oblong-oval, large, obtuse, subvelutinous above, 

 pubescent below, the veins reticulate, somewhat raised : 

 peduncles axillary, 1-3-fld. : fr. ovoid or oblong, yellow, 

 sweet only when fully ripe. Common on the dry up- 

 lands of Brazil. The species disseminated in Calif, by 

 Franceschi under the name of P. Araca does not agree 

 with this description; it is a plant strongly resembling 

 P. Cattleianum var. lucidum, but with broader and 

 somewhat thicker Ivs., the frs. usually larger, of a deep 

 yellow color, with few seeds and a more prominent 

 calyx. 



Cattleianum, Sabine. STRAWBERRY GUAVA. Shrub 

 or small tree, up to 20 ft. high, the bark smooth, green- 



3247. Psidium Guajava. Guava. ( X M) 



ish brown, the branchlets glabrous: Ivs. obovate- 

 elliptic, acute at apex and acute to cuneate at base, 

 2-3 in. long, glabrous, thick and coriaceous, dark 

 green, almost glossy: peduncles axillary, 1-fld.; calyx- 

 tube turbinate, 4- or 5-lobed, the lobes broadly oblong; 

 petals obovate, thin; style slender, stigma peltate; 

 ovary 4-locular: fr. obovate to roundish, 1-1^ in. 

 long, purplish red, with a thin skin and soft flesh, 

 white toward the center, containing numerous hard 

 seeds; flavor sweet and aromatic, sometimes likened to 

 that of the strawberry, whence the common name. 

 Brazil. It flowers in late spring and ripens its fruits 

 in Sept. and Oct. This species is extensively cult, in 

 Calif., being hardier than most others, and is also grown 

 in Fla. Var. lucidum, Hort., the yellow strawberry 

 guava, usually listed by the trade as P. lucidum, differs 

 in the color of its fr., which is sulfur-yellow. It is 

 thought to be somewhat more delicate in flavor, but is 

 less commonly grown in both Fla. and Calif, than the 

 type. Plants intro. under the names of P. chinense and 

 P. sinense have proved to be nothing more than this 

 variety. 



A species intro. by Franceschi under the name of P. acre, Ten., 

 resembles P. Cattleianum var. lucidum, but has more elongated and 

 usually larger frs. The foliage is of the same type. P. dichotomum, 

 Weinm., is properly P. Araca; a species intro. by Franceschi as 

 this species is evidently something else, having broad coriaceous, 

 glabrous Ivs. and somewhat resembling P. Cattleianum in habit. 

 P. guaydbita, A. Rich., is a species recently intro. from W. Cuba, 

 where it grows wild: the frs. are small and not considered very 



