Psidium cattleyanum
species of plant
Psidium cattleyanum (World Plants: Psidium cattleianum), commonly known as Cattley guava, strawberry guava or cherry guava, is a small tree (2–6 m (6 ft 7 in – 19 ft 8 in) tall) in the Myrtaceae (myrtle) family. The species is named in honour of English horticulturist William Cattley. The red-fruited variety, P. cattleyanum var. cattleyanum, is commonly known as purple guava, red cattley guava, red strawberry guava and red cherry guava. The yellow-fruited variety, P. cattleyanum var. littorale is variously known as yellow cattley guava, yellow strawberry guava, yellow cherry guava, lemon guava and in Hawaii as waiawī.
It is an invasive plant in many areas and is considered the most invasive species in Hawaii, although it has some economic uses, including its edible fruit.
Description
Psidium cattleyanum is a small, highly branched tree that reaches a maximum height of 13 m (43 ft), although most individuals are between 2 and 4 m (6 ft 7 in – 13 ft 1 in). It has smooth, grey to reddish-brown bark, with oval to elliptical leaves that grow to 4.5 cm in length. It bears fruit when the plants are between 3 and 6 years old.
“Psidium cattleyanum” enters the record as species of plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Psidium, cattleyanum and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17813563.
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This entry incorporates text from “Psidium cattleyanum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.