GUAVA 



GUAZUMA 



1415 



The common guava of the tropics is Psidium Gua- 

 java, Linn., of which there are numerous varieties. 

 Although the native home of this species is in tropical 

 America, it is now widely distributed throughout the 

 warmest regions of the globe. Under favorable con- 

 ditions it becomes a tree 25 to 30 feet in height; its 

 bark is smooth, greenish brown in color, while the 

 leaves are opposite, oval, smooth, light green, the veins 

 depressed above and prominent below. The flowers, 

 which are produced in the axils of the leaves, are about 

 an inch in diameter, with four incurved white petals 

 and a large tuft of white stamens tipped with yellow- 

 ish anthers. 



The fruit varies in shape from spherical to pyriform, 

 and in diameter from 1 to 4 inches. Commonly it is 

 oval or slightly pyriform, and about 2 inches in diame- 

 ter. The thin light yellow skin surrounds a layer of 

 finely granular pulp, inside of which is a mass of softer 

 pulp in which the small hard seeds are embedded. 

 The color of the flesh varies from white through shades 

 of salmon to deep pink, according to the variety; its 

 flavor when fully ripe is sweet or shghtly acid, and 

 nearly always somewhat musky. The aroma is charac- 

 teristic and rather penetrating; while objectionable to 

 some persons it is very agreeable to others. 



The fruit is eaten in many ways, — out of hand, 

 sliced with cream, stewed, preserved, and in shortcakes 

 and pies, but it is most highly valued for the manu- 

 facture of jams and jellies. In several tropical coun- 

 tries the manufacture of guava jelly forms quite an 

 important industry. When well made, it is deep wine 

 color, clear, of very firm consistency, and retains 

 something of the peculiar musky flavor which charac- 

 terizes the fruit, and which gives guava jelly an 

 individuality which is its greatest asset. In Brazil a 

 thick jam, known as goiabada, is made from the fruit 

 and sold in large quantities throughout the country. 

 A similar product is manufactured in the West Indies 

 and Florida under the name of guava cheese. 



The plant is cultivated to a limited extent in southern 

 California, where it is frequently listed under the name 

 of lemon guava. It is too tender for the colder sections 

 of the state. In Florida it is not only cultivated in 

 gardens, but is found in a semi-naturahzed condition 

 in some sections and has become a pest. The same is 

 true in many other regions; the plant grows so readily 

 from seed that it is sometimes difficult to prevent its 

 spreading to places where it is not desired when the 

 seeds are scattered by birds or other agencies. 



The Cattley or strawberry guava, P. Cattleianum, 

 Fig. 1769, is also a well-known fruit in this country. In 

 CaUfornia it is widely cultivated because of its superior 

 hardiness, withstanding temperatures as low as 22° F. 

 without injury. It does not grow to such large size as 

 P. Guajava, but under favorable conditions forms an 

 arborescent shrub 15 to 20 feet in height. Unlike P. 

 Guajava, its leaves are thick, leathery, and somewhat 

 glossy, in size rarely over 2J^ inches in length and in 

 form obovate-eUiptical. The fruit, which is usually 

 produced in great abundance, is broadly pyriform to 

 spherical, 1 to 1 J2 inches in diameter. The skin is deep 

 purpUsh maroon, the flesh translucent yellowish white, 

 very soft and melting in texture. The seeds are rather 

 numerous, irregularly oval in form. The flavor lacks 

 the pungency of P. Guajava, and a resemblance, real 

 or imagined, to that of the strawberry has suggested 

 the common name of "strawberry guava." JeUy made 

 from this fruit, while lacking the pronounced flavor of 

 that made from P. Guajava, is nevertheless highly 

 esteemed in California, most of the fruit being utihzed 

 for jelly-making. 



While rather slow in growth, the plant frequently 

 begins to bear fruit the second or third year from the 

 seed. A horticultural form of this species, P. Cat- 

 tleianum lucidum, generally listed by the trade as P. 

 lucidum, is grown both in Florida and California, 



though not so extensively as P. Cattleianum itself. The 

 chief difference between this form and the type lies in 

 the color of the fruit, which in place of maroon is deep 

 sulfur-yellow. The flavor, if anything, is a httle milder 

 and less pungent. It is a meritorious form, worthy of 

 wider cultivation. 



The "pineapple guava," of California, is Feijoa 

 Sellomiana, a South American myrtaceous fruit 

 not properly called a guava, perhaps, but so closely 

 resembling some of the guavas in growth and fruit as 

 to suggest this name. See Feijoa. Several other spe- 

 cies of Psidium are grown in this country to a limited 

 extent, some of them having been recently introduced. 

 Tropical America is rich in species of Psidium, Brazil 

 alone possessing a large number of economic value. 

 Most of these are still in the wild state and capable of 

 vast improvement by selection and breeding. 



The culture of the guavas presents few difficulties. 

 Nearly all species succeed on a variety of soils, requir- 

 ing only that good drainage be provided. While 

 propagation is nearly always by seed, some vegetative 

 method must be used to perpetuate desirable varieties. 

 This is especially important with P. Guajava, in which 

 there is more variation than in P. Caltleianmn, and 

 desirable forms do not come true from seed. Grafting 

 has been successfully performed but never widely 

 practised. In California, budding has been quite suc- 

 cessful, with large stocks an inch or more in diameter 

 and square or oblong patch buds about 13^ inches in 

 length. This method, however, does not seem very 

 suitable for commercial use. Shield -budding has been 

 succes.sful in a few instances, the operation being per- 

 formed as with citrus, and it is this method which 

 probably offers the greatest advantages. Propagation 

 by cuttings is also possible, when half-ripened wood is 

 used and bottom heat is available. All these methods 

 have been practised to a very limited extent, seed- 

 propagation being practically the only method used in 

 most tropical countries. Seeds retain their vitality for 

 some time, but should be planted as fresh as possible, 

 using a light sandy loam and taking care to avoid 

 over-watering when the young plants appear. When 

 the second leaves have formed, the plants should be 

 potted off and carried along in pots until they are 

 transplanted into permanent positions, since they are 

 somewhat difficult to transplant from the open ground. 

 Planting should be done in late spring. 



In Cahfornia P. Guajava frequently suffers from the 

 attacks of the black scale {Saissetia olese), which must 

 be kept in check by fumigation or spraying. In other 

 countries this plant seems remarkably free from insect 

 pests or fungous diseases, and this is true also of the 

 Cattley guava. The fruits are sometimes injured by 

 the Mediterranean fruit-fly, and a scab has been 

 observed in Brazil which affects them prejudicially. 

 As a rule, however, the plants require little atten- 

 tion. F. W. POPENOE. 



GUAZtJMA (name of Mexican origin). Sterculiacese. 

 A few Trop. American trees, aUied to Theobroma, with 

 small white, pink or yellow fls. in short-peduncled, 

 axillary cymes. Calyx mostly 3-parted; petals 5, 2- 

 parted; stamen-cup about 10-lobed, the lobes alter- 

 nating with petals and bearing 2-3 fertile anthers, the 

 staminodia 3-angled; style 5-parted: fr. a 5-valved nut 

 the size of a filbert: Ivs. 2-ranked, serrate: fls. small. 

 Theobroma has a berry-like fr., entire Ivs., f:iscicled or 

 soUtary fls., and a different staminal column. G. 

 ulmifdlia, Lam., the "guacima" of Mex., is offered in 

 Calif. It becomes a large tree: branchlets powdery: 

 Ivs. ovate to oblong-lanceolate, somewhat pointed, 

 obUque at base, powdery beneath when young but 

 becoming glabrous: nut nearly globular, with 5 fur- 

 rows. Said to yield medicinal preparations. G. tomen- 

 tdsa,, Kunth, is a small tree in W. Indies, apparently 

 not cult. here. l, jj. b. 



