274 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



brown scaly bark. The young branchlets are quadrangular. 

 The leaves are oblong-elliptic to oval in outline, 3 to 6 inches 

 long, acute to rounded at the apex, finely pubescent below, 

 with the venation conspicuously impressed on the upper surface. 

 Flowers are produced on branchlets of recent growth, and are 

 an inch broad, white, solitary, or several together upon a slender 

 peduncle. The calyx splits into irregular segments; the four 

 petals are oval, delicate in texture. In the center of the flower 

 is a brush-like cluster of long stamens. The fruit is round, 

 ovoid, or pyriform, 1 to 4 inches in length, commonly yellow in 

 color, with flesh varying from white to deep pink or salmon-red. 

 Numerous small, reniform, hard seeds are embedded in the 

 soft flesh toward the center of the fruit. The flavor is sweet, 

 musky, and very distinctive in character, and the ripe fruit 

 is aromatic in a high degree. 



The native home of the guava is in tropical America. The 

 exact extent of its distribution in pre-Columbian days is not 

 known. In the opinion of Alphonse DeCandolle, it occurred 

 from Mexico to Peru. In the former country the Aztec name 

 for it was xalxocotl, meaning sand-plum, probably a reference to 

 the gritty character of the flesh. The name guayaba (whence 

 the English guava) is believed to be of Haitian origin. The 

 plant was carried at an early day to India, where it has become 

 naturalized in several places. It is now cultivated throughout 

 the Orient. In Hawaii it has become thoroughly naturalized. 

 Occasional specimens are said to be found along the Mediter- 

 ranean coast of France, and in Algeria. In short, the guava 

 is well distributed throughout the tropics and sub tropics. 



In the United States, the two regions in which guavas can be 

 grown are Florida and southern California. The plant is said 

 by P. W. Reasoner to have been introduced into the former 

 state from Cuba in 1847. It is now naturalized there in many 

 places and cultivated in many gardens. It is successful as 

 far north as the Pinellas peninsula on the west coast and 



