Flora of North America species comparison

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Psidium cattleyanum

strawberry guava
Habit Shrubs or trees to 8 m; trunk reddish brown, smooth to scaly; young twigs light reddish brown to light gray, flattened, becoming subterete, older twigs usually gray, remaining ± smooth; young growth glabrous or sparsely puberulent to strigose on some floral structures, hairs whitish, most less than 0.1 mm.
Leaves

petiole channeled, 2–14 × 1–2 mm, glabrous;

blade drying light or dark reddish brown or grayish green, nearly concolorous, obovate, oblanceolate, or elliptic, 5–10 × 2–5.8 cm, 1.5–2.6 times as long as wide, leathery (rubbery when fresh), midvein prominent abaxially, nearly flat to shallowly impressed adaxially, lateral veins 8–13 pairs, ascending, weak to obscure, alternating with weaker veins arising near margin and extending toward midvein, base usually attenuate to cuneate, rarely rounded, apex acute or acuminate to broadly rounded, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences

1-flowered, borne in leaf axils, from leafless nodes, or in axils of leaflike or reduced bracts;

bracteoles ovate, lanceolate, or oblong, 1–2 mm.
Flowers

bud subpyriform, 6–13 mm, apex rounded;

calyx tube extended 3–7 mm beyond ovary summit, terminating in sinuate-edged terminal pore (rarely completely closed), tearing irregularly at anthesis, tears cutting through staminal ring;

hypanthium 3–5 mm (below calyx);

petals suborbiculate to elliptic, 3–6 mm;

disc within staminal ring ca. 4–6 mm across;

stamens 280–400, 3–8 mm;

anthers 0–1 mm;

style 4–8 mm;

stigma ca. 1 mm wide;

ovary 3- or 4-locular;

placenta reflexed;

ovules ca. 12–25 per locule.
Berries

red or yellow, pyriform to subglobose, 15–30 mm.
Seeds

few–100, round to subreniform, ca. 5 mm, smooth.

Psidium cattleyanum
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Disturbed areas.
Elevation 0–15 m. (0–0 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; South America (Brazil) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Pacific Islands (Hawaii)]
Discussion

Psidium cattleyanum is known in the flora area from the central and southern peninsula and is commonly cultivated for its edible fruit.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Myrtaceae > Psidium
Sibling taxa
P. guajava
Synonyms P. littorale, P. variabile
Name authority Sabine: Trans. Hort. Soc. London 4: [315–]317, plate 11. (1821)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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