Feijoa sellowiana Berg (Pineapple Guava)

Abstract

Pineapple guava or feijoa are common names of Feijoa sellowiana Berg a member of the Myrtaceae family and the only species of the genus Feijoa. The scientific name is a compliment to both J. Feijo, Director of the Natural History Museum of S. Sebastian, in Brazil, at the time of its discovery, and F. Sellow, the naturalist who collected the specimen later classified by Berg (Hooker 1898). The plant is an evergreen bushy shrub or small fruit tree (Fig. 1A), which may occasionally reach the height of 5–7 m. The leaves are smooth, dark green on the upper surface and whitish tomentose on the underside. The flowers (Fig. 1B) are especially notable for their petals, red on the inside and whitish on the outside, and by the numerous dark red stamens. The fruits (Fig. 1), yellow-green when ripe, emit an agreeable scent due to the production of several volatile compounds (Hardy and Michael 1970; Shaw et al. 1989), and contain numerous small (2–2.5 mm), kidney-shaped seeds.