IFAS Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service
The cattleya guava Psidium littorale is a very attractive
small tree with glossy deep green evergreen leaves about two to three and
a half inches long. New growth is reddish, which adds to the attractiveness
of the tree and it has a handsome reddish-brown bark which peels.
Florida dimensions of this Brazilian native is approximately thirty
feet high and about twenty-five feet in width. Fruits are produced in spring
and autumn from one-inch white flowers, and the fruits usually are about
one-and-a-half-inch, round, with a shiny reddish color. Inside, the yellowish-white
pulp has many hard seeds and the flesh has a pleasant sub-acid flavor. Fruits
can be eaten fresh or used in jellies and jams.
Trees have good salt tolerance and can be used close to coastal areas
without any problem. Also, they are tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions,
whether acid or slightly alkaline. Young trees may be injured by freezing
temperatures, but mature trees can take temperatures down to 24°F without
serious damage.
Propagation of cattleya guava is usually by seed, although occasionally
some nurseries will air layer these.
Problems with the fruit include Caribbean fruit fly and occasional
damage from birds and other animals. In addition to the red-fruited cattleya
guava there is a yellow-fruited form which has slightly larger and sweeter
fruit and also somewhat larger leaves. Sometimes this is called the giant
Puerto Rican Cattleya.
Cattleya guavas make excellent landscape small trees, but also are
easily grown and fruited in large containers. Growth rates are usually about
two to four feet a year under good conditions. Trees should be fertilized
in the landscape two to three times a year with a general type complete fertilizer.
© 2000 BGCII Page posted March 2004
