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Psidium cattleianum littorale

Common name:	Yellow Strawberry Guava	Family:	Myrtaceae
Author:	(Raddi.)Fosberg.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:	Psidium lucidum (Hort.), Psidium littorale (Raddi.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S. America - Brazil.
Habitat:	Not known
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	P. cattleianum[B,G,H,P] P. cattleianum var. littorale[B,G,P] P. littorale var. littorale[P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Purple Strawberry Guava [B], Strawberry Guava [H,P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	littorale = of the sea shore littoral
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Myrtales. Myrtle family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 6m. It is hardy to zone 10 and is frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower in May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Hedge, Woodland, Sunny Edge, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked. Sweet and aromatic[3, 105]. An agreeable acid-sweet flavour. High in pectin, the fruits are good for mixing with high-acid, low-pectin fruits for making jellies etc[183]. This species has a superior flavour to P. littorale longipes[46]. The fruit is about 4cm in diameter[200].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Hedge.

Grown as a hedge in warm temperate climates[200].

Cultivation details

Requires a well-drained sandy loam with leafmold[1].
Not very hardy in Britain, it is best grown in a greenhouse but it can tolerate short-lived light frosts[200] and therefore might succeed outdoors in the mildest areas of the country.
Sometimes cultivated for its edible fruit.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a warm greenhouse. When large enough to handle, prick out the seedlings into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. If trying the plants outdoors, plant them out in the summer and give them some protection from winter cold for at least their first two winters.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

References for Psidium cattleianum (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Psidium cattleianum var. littorale (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for Psidium littorale (a possible synonym).

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Myrtaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[3] Simmons. A. E. Growing Unusual Fruit. David and Charles 1972 ISBN 0-7153-5531-7
A very readable book with information on about 100 species that can be grown in Britain (some in greenhouses) and details on how to grow and use them.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

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