From Common Forest Trees of Hawaii

Cattley Guava
Psidium cattleyanum
Eucalyptus-Like family (Myrtaceae)

Post-Cook introduction

Small tree or shrub planted for its round or elliptical dark reddish purple or yellow edible and widely and forming thickets in lowland areas. Becoming 20–50 ft (6–15 m) high, with slightly angled trunk 4–12 inches (0.1–0.3 m) in diameter. Bark gray or light brown, smooth, peeling off and exposing light greenish brown inner layers. Inner bark is light pink, bitter and astringent. Twigs brown, hairless.


©2012 Forest And Kim Starr
Leaves paired (), hairless, leaf-stalks green, 1⁄4–1⁄2 inch (6–13 ) long. elliptical, 1 1⁄2–3 1⁄2 inches (4–9 ) long, and 1–1 3⁄4 inches (2.5–4.5 ) wide, short-pointed at , broadest beyond middle, and tapering to long-pointed base, slightly thick and leathery and turned under at edges, above shiny dark green with inconspicuous veins, beneath dull light green with tiny -dots.

Flowers 1–2 on short stalks at leaf bases, white, less than 1 inch (2.5 ) across, composed of greenish conical base () less than 1⁄4 inch (6 ) long, 4–5 rounded green that remain at top of , 4–5 elliptical white petals, many threadlike white , and with inferior and slender .

() 1–2 on slender stalks at leaf bases or back of leaves, round or elliptical, 1–1 1⁄2 inches (2.5–4 ) long, dark reddish purple or sometimes yellow, with 4 rounded thick 1⁄4 inch (6 ) long at , thick-walled, pinkish or whitish, juicy, slightly sour to sweet edible pulp, aromatic. Seeds are many, rounded or elliptical, 3⁄16 inch (5 ) long, hard, light brown or yellow.

Sapwood is yellowish white and heartwood pale reddish brown. A fine-textured, moderately heavy wood used only for fuelwood in Hawaii.

are eaten raw or made into jam or jelly with strawberry flavor. One variety of larger size with large yellow is called yellow strawberry guava.

Introduced into Hawaii in 1825 for the edible , but now thoroughly and established. It forms thickets in moist lowland areas up to about 2500 ft (762 m) elevation, rarely to 4,000 ft (1,220 m). Classed as a weed in pastures, rangelands, and waste places. Grown also in southern California and Florida.

Special areas
Waimea Arboretum, Wahiawa, Tantalus, Aiea, Kalopa, Pepeekeo

Range
Native of Brazil

Other common names
purple strawberry guava, Cattley guava, waiawi

Botanical
Psidium cattleianum Sabine, Psidium littorale Raddi

An evergreen tree retains a large portion of its green leaves all year.

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

style -- This is a long and thread-like structure that connects the stigma with the ovary. A flower may have a single style, or several of them.

synonym -- In botany a synonym is a species name that at one time was thought to be the correct name for a plant but was later found to be incorrect and has been replaced by a new name.

cm -- A centimeter which is about 0.4 inches.

Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances. Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.

mm -- millimeter. About 1/25th of an inch.

The hypanthium or floral cup is a cup-like structure formed by the fused bases of the stamens, petals, and sepals.

a non-native plant that has adapted to a new environment and continues to spread.

The apex is the tip or the furthest point from the attachment.

calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

In an opposite leaf arrangement the leaves come in pairs with one leaf on each side of a stem.

The botanical term "berry" is different from common usage. Strawberries and raspberries are not berries. But a tomatoe is. A true berry is a fruit with the seeds immersed in the pulp.

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

An ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower. Above the ovary is the style and the stigma, which is where the pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary.

blade -- Just the flat part of a leaf. Not the stem.

A pistil is the female structure of many flowers. It contains one or more carpels. Each carpel contins an ovary, style and stigma. The stigma receives the pollen which grows thru the style to reach the ovary.