TopTropicals Plant Catalog

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Feijoa sellowiana, Acca sellowiana Family: Myrtaceae Feijoa, Pineapple Guava, Guavasteen Origin: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay The feijoa is a slow-growing evergreen shrub that can reach 15 ft high and 15 ft wide. The bark is pale gray and the spreading branches are swollen at the nodes and white-hairy when young. In addition to the fruit it provides, the shrub also doubles handsomely as a landscape specimen. When planted close together, the shrubs make a nice hedge, screen, or windbreak. Feijoas can also be espaliered or trained as a small tree (20 to 25 ft. tall) with one or more trunks. The wood is dense, hard, and brittle. Bisexual flowers, borne singly or in a cluster, have long, bright red stamens topped with large grains of yellow pollen. Flowers appear late, from May through June. Each flower contains four to six fleshy flower petals that are white tinged with purple on the inside. These petals are mildly sweet and edible and can make a refreshing addition to spring salads. Birds eating the petals pollinate the flower. It has been said that feijoa pollen is transferred by birds that are attracted to and eat the flowers, but bees are the chief pollinators. The fruits range from 3/4 to 3-1/2 inches long and vary in shape from round to elongated pear shape, with the persistent calyx segments adhering to the apex. The waxy skin is dull blue-green to blue or grayish green, sometimes with a red or orange blush. Skin texture varies from smooth to rough and pebbly. The fruit emits a strong long-lasting perfume, even before it is fully ripe. The thick, white, granular, watery flesh and the translucent central pulp enclosing the seeds are sweet or subacid, suggesting a combination of pineapple and guava or pineapple and strawberry, often with overtones of winter green or spearmint. There are usually 20 to 40, occasionally more, very small, oblong seeds hardly noticeable when the fruit is eaten. The feijoa grows easily from seed, but the seedlings are not always true to type. Feijoas prefer cool winters and moderate summers (80° to 90° F), and are generally adapted to areas where temperatures stay above 15° F. Flower production is poor in areas with fewer than 50 hours of chilling. The flavor of the fruit is much better in cool than in warm regions. Even thought the plants are relatively hardy, sudden fall frosts can damage ripening fruit and late spring frosts can destroy blossoms. Spring frost damage is most likely in mild-winter areas, where the plants are not completely hardened off and respond to warm spells by blooming early. Read more about this fruit tree. Link to this plant: http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/feijoa_sellowiana.htm

Photo by Olga A. Vogt

Photo by Olga A. Vogt