PROMISING NEW GUAVA VARIETIES (7) that "it takes a very courageous soul to go into ecstasies over the merits of the fruit,"

Geo. D. Ruehle

Sub-Tropical Experiment Station

and many dislike extremely the strong pene trating odor of the average common guava. It is true that the fruit from the average wild tree is almost worthless for use as dessert fruit. On the other hand, individual seedlings of superior quality may be found in almost any large planting of guavas. It is natural that an extreme variation in type and quality of fruit should exist in a species which has been grown from seed for many years under widely different soil and climatic conditions. The guava has been neglected by horticul turists and plant breeders until quite recently. A start has now been made in California and Florida in the selection and propagation of superior varieties. A beginning has also been made in the systematic crossing of desirable strains in an effort to create more desirable

Homestead

The common guava, Psidium guajava L., is native to the American Tropics, from where it has spread to tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world. It very readily propa gates itself by seeds and has become natural ized in many regions even to the extent of becoming a weed pest (7). Fruit from the wild plants generally is of inferior quality, but is utilized in the manufac ture of various guava products, the most com mon and well known being the almost univer sally liked guava jelly. The fruit may be proc

essed in many other ways. It may be canned or preserved, or made into butters, pastes, rel ishes, or drinks (9). During the war military demands for cheap sources of vitamin C to fortify rations used by the armed forces brought the guava into prom

types. A great deal of such work is necessary

inence, since this fruit is one of the best known natural sources of ascorbic acid. The fruit is also valuable for its high acid and pectin content. Guava puree has been added to berries, grapes, pineapples and other fruits to raise the level of these properties in the final products. The addition of guava is said to improve the flavor of such combination fruit products. According to Coit (1), "A highly concentrated puree or paste is finding increased use in this country as a component

part of various confections, notably children's candy bars." It is probable that the guava with its unique combination of desirable character istics will find wider use in the future in the processing of various fruit products both in the home and in processing plants.

The guava use as a fresh dividuals who this fruit are 1946

does not rate very highly for fruit. The great majority of in have become acquainted with willing to agree with Popenoe

if the guava is to be raised to the position it deserves in commercial and home plantings. The writer feels that the chances for success in such work with the guava are very good. The first guava variety to attract attention in Florida was the Redland, described in 1941 by Lynch and Wolfe (2). Fruit of this variety from young trees is very large (up to 16 ounces), firm, white fleshed, with relatively few seeds and with little of the strong odor characteristic of most of the common guavas. Subsequent study revealed that its foliage and fruit are extremely susceptible to spotting by the red alga, Cephaleuros virescens Kuntze (8), that the ascorbic acid content of its fruit is very low for guavas (3), and that fruit from older trees is quite variable in size. Since its flavor is very mild and is rated as inferior to fruit of some of the newer selections, the Redland is no longer recommended unless one desires an especially mild flavored guava. Three newer selections made at the SubTropical Experiment Station are superior to

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128

FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 1946

the Redland in quality and possess sufficient merit to be propagated for distribution by nurserymen. They are described herein for the first time. Supreme

Origin. The Supreme guava is a seedling selection from seed planted in 1936 by the writer. The original tree is at 9 N.E. 14th Street, Homestead, Florida, where it was planted in 1938, and several grafted trees are growing at the Sub-Tropical Experiment Sta tion.

Pig-. 1.

Tree. The tree is a vigorous grower, becom ing quite large, spreading, with a fairly dense

top. The foliage and fruit show a high degree of resistance to algal spotting. Description of fruit. Form oval to broadly pyriform, sometimes indistinctly grooved and surface somewhat rugose (Fig. 1) ; size vari able, usually medium to large, weight 5 to 16 ounces, averaging 6 to 10 ounces; skin color

greenish yellow to light yellow when fully ripened; flesh white, moist, fine grained, mildly aromatic, with sidewalls 1/2 inch or more in thickness; flavor mild, sub-acid; seed cavity

Supreme guava.

RUEHLE:

NEW

GUAVA VARIETIES

129

small, making up 16 to 21% of the weight of

Inventory (4), the seed from which the Lenz

the

tree grew was obtained from Dominica, Brit

fruit,

separating

fairly

readily

from the

sidewalls; seeds small and few in number for a guava; odor mild, not unpleasant; quality good.

The under

Supreme favorable

guava is very productive, conditions maturing some

fruit over a period of about 8 months with

ish West Indies, and was taken from a "large Indian variety" which had been originally in troduced into Dominica from India. The orig inal Red Indian tree is growing on the Lenz property in the Redland District, Dade County,

peaks occurring in late fall and early spring.

Florida, and several bearing grafted trees are growing at the Sub-Tropical Experiment Sta

The thick sidewalls and good quality makes the

tion.

Supreme a good guava for home canning and

Tree. The tree is a fairly vigorous grower a low-headed, spreading top. The

preserving and the fruit makes an acceptable

forming

jelly. The ascorbic acid content of the fruit

stems of the new shoots and the veins of the

Fig.

2.

Red

was determined by Mustard (3) to average 246.9 mg. per 100 grams of fresh fruit.

The Red

Indian

guava.

expanding new leaves typically are reddish in color. The leaves and fruits are rather sus ceptible to algal

Red Indian

Origin.

Indian

Description guava

originated

as a seedling obtained by Mr. Fred Lenz in 1936 from the U.S.D.A. Plant Introduction

Garden at Coconut Grove, Florida, under S.P.I, number 57828. According to the S.P.I. Plant

spotting.

of fruit.

Form

globose,

often

slightly flattened at each end, smooth with a large open calyx (Fig. 2) ; size variable, us ually medium to large, ranging from 3 to 12 ounces, mostly 4 to 8 ounces; skin color yel low, often with a faint pinkish blush; flesh

FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL

130

moist, somewhat granular, aromatic, in various

SOCIETY,

1946

Tropical Experiment Station. The latter were

shades from ruby to carmine when fully ripen

from a fruit produced at the Station from a

ed, with sidewalls 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick; flavor

seedling

sweet and mild; seed cavity rather large mak ing up 30 to 40% of the weight of the fruit, not separating readily from the sidewalls; seeds numerous but rather small for a guava; odor rather strong and pungent, but fruity and not unpleasant; quality very good. The Red Indian is primarily a dessert guava for eating out of hand as a fresh fruit. It is

obtained from the U.S.D.A. Plant Introduction Garden at Coconut Grove'in 1931

under S.P.I, number 81849. The original seed of this introduction came from Peru according to the S.P.I. Plant Inventory (5). Tree. The tree is a fairly vigorous grower, forming a low-headed, spreading top. The stems of the new shoots and the veins of the expanding new leaves typically are pale red-

I -

Fig.

quite

productive,

maturing its

main

3.

crop

Ruby

in

the fall and early winter months. The ascorbic acid content averages 195 nig. per 100 grams

of fresh fruit (3). Ruby

Origin. The Ruby guava is a seedling selec tion from seeds planted in 1937 at the Sub-

guava.

dish in color. The leaves and fruits are moder ately susceptible to algal spotting.

Description of the fruit. Form ovate in out line, with surface slightly rugose (Fig. 3) ; size variable, from 4 to 10 ounces, mostly 6 to 8 ounces; skin color greenish yellow often with a faint pinkish blush; ftesh moist, some what granular, aromatic, in various shades

RUEHLE:

NEW

GUAVA

from rose to ruby when fully mature, with side walls approximately 1/2 inch thick; flavor

sweet and mild; seed cavity rather small mak ing up 20 to 25% of weight of the fruit, sep arating fairly readily from the sidewalls; seeds relatively few; odor pungent and aromatic but fruity and pleasant; quality very good. The Ruby is an excellent dessert guava for home use. It is good to eat out of hand and its thick sidewalls make it excellent for can ning or for use as a sliced table fruit. It is a fairly heavy bearer, maturing its main crop in the fall and early winter months. The as corbic content of this variety has not been de termined.

These three selections are not the only good dessert-type guavas in Florida. We have other selections at the Experiment Station which we are studying and there are no doubt many other excellent seedlings in Florida which have not been brought to our attention. It may be ad visable in the near future to hold one or more guava forums in an effort to bring to light new and better seedlings.

From the work of the late Dr. H. J. Webber in California, several named varieties of guava

are now available in that state. We have graftwood of a number of these at the Experiment Station. Thus far, those which have fruited under our conditions are scarcely equal and certainly are not superior to our own selec tions. Technical descriptions of the California varieties have not appeared in print to our knowledge. Three of these were recently reg istered as varieties with the Subtropical Fruit Committee of the California Avocado Society (6). The Riverside is described as a mediumlarge fruit with creamy yellow flesh and a good flavor and has a sugar content of 9.5%. This is the best of the California varieties which has fruited in Florida to date. The Rolfs is described as a mediunl-sized pink fleshed fruit of good quality, having a sugar content

of 9%. The fruit matured under our conditions

is decidedly inferior to the Red Indian, Ruby or Supreme. The Hart variety, which has not borne fruit at the Experiment Station, is de

VARIETIES

131

scribed as a relatively large fruit, light yel low in color with a sugar content of about 8%. We have made no effort to propagate the Riverside, Rolfs or Hart varieties, but propa gating material is available at the Station in limited quantity to anyone interested in start ing them.

Unfortunately for the establishment of guava varieties in home or commercial plantings, the

common guava has proved to be difficult to propagate by ordinary methods employed with other fruits. We can graft large seedlings fair ly readily, but the guava persists in suckering below the graft union. We have had no suc cess with stem cuttings and only very limited success with various types of buds placed on young seedlings. Root cuttings are fairly suc cessful but this is a slow way to make a large number of trees. It is our hope that some nurs eryman who is skillful with the budding knife will find a way to make guava trees easily and rapidly from the good varieties. This lack of a good method of propagating is all that now stands in the way of satisfying a real demand on the part of guava enthusiasts for trees of the better varieties. Literature Cited

1. COIT, J. ELIOT. The ubiquitous guava. Cali fornia Avocado Society Yearbook 1945: 4142, 1945.

2; LYNCH, S. J. and H. S. WOLFE. The Redland guava. Florida Agr. Exp. Sta. Press Bui. 562, 1941.

2. MUSTARD, MARGARET J. Ascorbic acid con tent of some Florida grown guavas. Florida Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 414, 1945. 4. Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. Inventory No. 76: No. 57828, p. 11, 1926. 5. Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. Inventory No. 101; No. 81849, p. 13, 1931. 6. PALMER, DEAN F. Report of Subtropical Fruit Committee. California Avocado Society Year book for 1945: 32-35, 1945. 7.

POPENOE, WILSON. The undeveloped field of tropical fruit. In New Crops for the New World, edited by Charles Morrow Wilson:

1-26. Macmillan Co. 1945. 8. RUEHLE, GEO. D. Algal leaf and fruit spot of guava. Phytopathology 31: 95-96, 1941. 9. THURSBY, ISABELLE S. The goodly guava. Florida Agr. Ext. Service Bui. 70, 1932.