Species

Psidium guajava

Common Name(s)

yellow guava

Family

Myrtaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Habitat

Terrestrial.

Features

Yellow guava is a small tree, growing to c. 3m, with smooth bark. The leaves are large (up to 14 x 7 cm) and have strong venation. Young leaves are densely hairy. The fruit are up top 4 cm diameter and yellow-skinned containing many hard seeds.

Similar Taxa

P. guajava can be distinguished from P. cattleianum by the hairy leaves (especially when young) and by the strongly impressed veins above and raised below.

Flowering

July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, March

Flower Colours

White,Yellow

Fruiting

November-March

Year Naturalised

1965

Origin

Trop America

Reason For Introduction
Agricultural

Life Cycle Comments
Perennial.

Reproduction
Seed and suckering.

Seed
Each fruit contains many seeds.

Dispersal
Bird dispersed (Lisa Forester 1996). Rats also eat the fruit but will destroy many of the seeds.

Tolerances
Intolerance of frost and deep shade (Cameron 1996)

This page last updated on 18 Jan 2010