The Plant List

Feijoa sellowiana

Common: Feijoa, guavasteen, pineapple guava
Family: Myrtaceae
Origin: Native to subtropical Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina and southern Brazil.
Zones: Sunset Zones 7-9, 12-24. Adapted to USDA Zones 8 and 9
Light: Full sun, will tolerate partial shade
Temperature: Do best where the winters are cool (they are hardy to 10° F) and the summers moderate (between 80° and 90° F). To produce fruit, need 100-200 chilling hours below 45° F. Heat stress in the summer may cause them to drop fruit prematurely.
Soil: Must have good drainage
Water: Will grow in dry conditions. Tolerates much aridity and lawn water. Water every week when young, every month or two when mature.

Hardiest of so-called sub-tropical fruits. Slow to medium growing multistemmed evergreen shrub that can be trained to a small tree with a single trunk, espaliered, or pruned to form a dense hedge. Without pruning, reaches 15 feet high and 15 feet across. Egg-shaped leaves 2-3 inches long and silvery underneath.

Attractive white flowers with purple and red appear in clusters in summer. Edible fruits are round or egg-shaped, 1-3 inches long, with waxy blue-green or gray-green skins and juicy greenish white pulp. Make a great addition to home landscape.

Attractive in all seasons and pruduce edible flowers and fruit.