Plant · P-491

Guava

Psidium guajava

Guava is a fast-growing evergreen shrub or small tree from the American tropics, grown for fruit that is very high in vitamin C and heavy for its size - a single bearing tree can produce fifty pounds or more a year. It spreads readily by bird-carried seed and forms dense thickets where left unmanaged, so picking up windfalls and grazing beneath it are part of growing it. A hard freeze can kill the top growth back to the ground, but the tree typically resprouts from the base and returns to fruiting within a few years.