Psidium cattleyanum
Common names
purple guava
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Large shrub or tree to 6 m high. Trunk smooth, pale brown. Leaves smooth, oval to 4-5 cm long. Round fruit to 2 cm diameter becoming dark purple or sometimes yellow. edible.
Similar taxa
P. cattleyanum can be distinguished from P. guajava by its glabrous leaves and the absence of prominent veins on either leaf surface.
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Threats
This taxon may be prone to myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii) is an invasive fungus which threatens myrtle species - learn more myrtlerust.org.nz
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Myrtaceae
Ecology
Flowering
January, February, March
Fruiting
June-August
Year naturalised
1977
Origin
S Brazil
Reason for introduction
Agricultural
Tolerances
Shade tolerant (Cronk and Fuller).
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. Reproduces from seed. Pig/bird dispersed (Cronk and Fuller).
Other information
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
PSICAT