Psidium guajava L.
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Family
Myrtaceae (Magnoliophyta)
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Scientific Name
Psidium guajava L.
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Primary Citation
Sp. Pl. 470. 1753
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Common Names
abas, common guava, goyavier, guabang, guayaba, guava, kuahpa
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Description
Author: Maria Lúcia Kawasaki
Description: Shrubs or small trees to 6 m tall. Bark smooth, greenish-brown. Stems 4-angled. Leaves: petioles 3-8 mm long; blades elliptic to narrowly elliptic, 7-15 × 3-7 cm, drying brownish-green, paler below, chartaceous to coriaceous, pubescent to glabrous, densely pellucid-punctate especially below, the base obtuse to subcordate, the apex obtuse to acuminate; midvein impressed on the upper surface; lateral veins 12-20 pairs, impressed above, salient below, straight and parallel, arching at the margin, not forming a distinct marginal vein. Inflorescences axillary, dichasia with 3 flowers or flowers solitary; peduncles 1-4 cm long, appressed-pubescent to glabrous; bracteoles linear, 2-5 mm long. Flowers: buds fusiform, constricted in the middle, 10-15 mm long, the apex apiculate; hypanthium appressed-pubescent; calyx lobes fused in bud, tearing irregularly at anthesis into 3-5 segments, appressed-puberulous; petals ca. 15 mm long, puberulous; stamens to 15 mm long; style to 15 mm long. Fruits subglobose to pyriform, 2-6 cm long, glabrous; seeds ca. 3 mm long.
Common names: Goiaba, guava, guava tree, guayava, guayavo.
Distribution: Native to the Neotropics but widely cultivated throughout the tropics.
Ecology: Cultivated and naturalized in disturbed vegetation.
Phenology: Fr in Aug and Mar.
Pollination: No observations recorded.
Dispersal: The fruits are eaten by animals and the seeds are most likely dispersed by them. Bats, for example, have been reported as dispersers of this species (Lobova et al., in press).
Taxonomic notes: Psidium guajava differs from P. guineense Sw. by having more than 10 vs. less than 10 pairs of lateral veins. The description of this species was prepared for the Plants and Lichens of Saba project and applies most accurately to the species as it occurs on this island.
Uses: Cultivated for the edible fruit.
Etymology: The epithet most likely refers to a common name of the species.
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Floras and Monographs
Psidium guajava L.: [Article] Maguire, Bassett. 1969. The botany of the Guayana Highland-part VIII. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 18: 1-290.
Psidium guajava L.: [Article] Popenoe, Wilson. 1924. Economic fruit-bearing plants of Ecuador. Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 24: i-ix, 101-134. pl. 34-49.
Psidium guajava L.: [Manuscript] Britton, Nathaniel L. Flora Borinqueña.
Psidium guajava L.: [Article] Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
Psidium guajava L.: [Book] Britton, Nathaniel L. & Millspaugh, Charles F. 1920. The Bahama Flora.
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Narratives
