Acca sellowiana (O.Berg) Burret

  • Authority

    Landrum, Leslie R. 1986. Campomanesia, Pimenta, Blepharocalyx, Legrandia, Acca, Myrrhinium, and Luma (Myrtaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 45: 1-178. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Myrtaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Acca sellowiana (O.Berg) Burret

  • Type

    Type. Brazil or Uruguay.  In prov. Rio Grande do Sul, nec non in Montevideo, Sellow s.n. (holotype, B, lost; isotype at W, hereby designated as lectotype; isolectotypes, BR, K, F).

  • Synonyms

    Orthostemon sellowianus O.Berg, Orthostemon obovatus O.Berg, Feijoa sellowiana (O.Berg) O.Berg, Feijoa obovata (O.Berg) O.Berg, Feijoa schenkiana Kiaersk.

  • Description

    Species Description - Small tree or shrub up to ca. 4 m high, the young growth whitish or rusty lanate; hairs up to ca. 1 mm long, unbranched, mostly strongly curled; young twigs moderately to densely lanate, glabrescent with age, the young bark smooth, light reddish-brown, becoming grey to light brown, flaky with age. Leaves obovate, elliptic, 3-7 cm long, 1.5-4 cm wide, 1.5-2.3 times as long as wide, densely lanate (rarely subglabrous) below, lanate to glabrescent along the midvein above, the blade glabrous to thinly pubescent above; apex acute to rounded to less often abruptly acuminate or emarginate; base acute, cuneate, or rounded; petiole shallowly channeled, densely lanate at first, glabrescent with age, 2-8 mm long, 1-1.5 mm thick; midvein impressed slightly above, prominent below; lateral veins 6-10 pairs, slightly raised or impressed above, prominent below, the secondary veins often also prominent; marginal veins arching between the laterals, about equalling the laterals in prominence; blades subcoriaceous to coriaceous, drying grey-green to reddish-brown, lustrous or dull above. Peduncles uniflorous, densely lanate, 0.5-3 cm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, terete to somewhat flattened; bracteoles narrowly triangular to linear, ca. 2.5-3 mm long, ca. 0.5-1 mm wide, densely lanate, caducous just before anthesis; Calyx-lobes suborbicular, oblong, or oblong-ovate, 4-9 mm long, 4-8 mm wide, densely lanate without, glabrous over most of surface, reddish within, the inner lobes longer than the outer; petals suborbicular to elliptic, ca. 1.5 cm long, glabrous or essentially so, glandular, reddish to pink; hypanthium narrowly obconic-campanulate to ellipsoid, 7-12 mm long, sometimes longitudinally sulcate, densely tomentose; disk densely pubescent, 4-5 mm across; stamens ca. 60-90, 1.3-2.4 cm long, stiff, dark red; anthers ca. 1 mm long; style glabrous, 1.7-2.7 cm long, dark red; ovary 3-4-locular, the septa commonly fused for proximal third and unfused above, the placentation thus appearing parietal on protruding T-shaped placentae distally; ovules ca. 36-60 per locule. Fruit ellipsoid to obovoid, ca. 2.5—8 cm long, often with a gelatinous substance inside, emitting a spicy odor when ripe. Seeds numerous, or most aborting (perhaps in cultivars), more or less round, flattened, ca. 2 mm long, the outer seed coat subcrustose, the inner membranous, the embryo coiled, the cotyledons strap-like, about as long as the hypocotyl.

  • Discussion

    In English speaking countries the names pineapple guava and feijoa are used for cultivated plants.

    Acca sellowiana is widely cultivated in moderately cool climates where freezing is rare or at least not severe. It is valued for its beautiful flowers and edible fruits, the latter having some commercial importance in New Zealand, Israel, and California.

    Kiaerskou (1893, p. 187) and Kunth (1906, p. 74) report that the flowers are visited by birds that eat the petals. Their statements are apparently based on the observations made by Fritz Muller and his grandson Hans Lorenz. I have seen birds visiting the flowers of Acca sellowiana in Golden Gate Park, California and they seemed to be eating the petals. Dr. Kevin Patterson of Auckland, New Zealand tells me that birds commonly eat the petals of this species in his country. I have also noted that the petals change color slightly and become sweet and juicy just as the anthers dehisce, and that there is no nectar in the fresh flowers. These observations indicate to me that this species is probably visited and pollinated by birds in its natural environment, the attractant being the petals.

    McGregor (1976) states that cultivated Acca sellowiana is pollinated by pollengathering bees as well as birds, so this too may happen in the natural environment. McGregor also reports that the plants are often self-sterile.

    I have seen that the petals of Myrrhinium also change color (from reddish to light purple) and become juicy and sweet as the anthers dehisce, so I hypothesize that use of petals as an attractant in the Myrrhinium complex is very ancient.

  • Common Names

    goiaba do campo, goiaba, goiabeira do campo, araçazeira do campo, goiabeira-serrana, goiabeira do mato, goiabeira da serra, araça do Rio Grande, Guayabo, or guayabo del pais

  • Distribution

    Acca sellowiana grows in the campos and Araucaria forests in southeastern Brazil (Legrand & Klein, 1977), and is said to grow in quebradas in Uruguay (Lombardo, 1964).

    Brazil South America| Paraná Brazil South America| Rio Grande do Sul Brazil South America| Santa Catarina Brazil South America| Uruguay South America|