Description
The common guava has quadrangular branchlets, oval to oblong leaves about 7.6 cm (3 inches) in length, and four-petaled white flowers about 2.5 cm (1 inch) broad. The fruits are round to pear-shaped and measure up to 7.6 cm in diameter; their pulp contains many small hard seeds (more abundant in wild forms than in cultivated varieties). The fruit has yellow skin and white, yellow, or pink flesh. The musky, at times pungent, odor of the sweet pulp is not always appreciated.
Propagation is usually by seeds, but improved varieties must be perpetuated by plant parts. The plant’s hard dry wood and thin bark prevent cutting and conventional methods of grafting. Veneer grafting, using as rootstocks young plants in vigorous growth, gives excellent results.
The plant is not frost-resistant but is successfully grown throughout southern Florida; in several tropical regions, it grows so abundantly in a half-wild state as to have become a pest.
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