Plant
Feijoa
Acca sellowiana
Also known as: Acca sellowiana, pineapple guava
A small evergreen shrub or small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to the highlands of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northern Argentina. The fruit — egg-shaped, pale green, with cream-colored flesh — has a distinctive flavor combining pineapple, banana, mint, and strawberry. The species has become essentially a national fruit of New Zealand (where it is widely cultivated despite not being native and where surplus backyard feijoas are seasonal cultural events similar to American zucchini gluts). The flower is also notable — the bright red staminal column emerging through white-pink petals is one of the more-distinctive flowers among edible-fruit species.
Scientific
Acca sellowiana (family Myrtaceae — same family as [[eucalyptus]], [[guava]], [[clove]], and [[allspice]]) is a small evergreen shrub or small tree reaching 4–7 m. Native to the high-elevation grasslands of southern Brazil (especially Rio Grande do Sul), Uruguay, and northern Argentina.
The species was formerly classified as Feijoa sellowiana; molecular work moved it into Acca. Both names remain in widespread informal use. The genus name Feijoa honors João da Silva Feijó, a Portuguese-Brazilian naturalist.
The fruit is egg-shaped (3–6 cm), pale yellow-green at maturity, with a translucent cream-colored aromatic flesh surrounding small clusters of edible seeds. The flavor combines [[pineapple|pineapple]], banana, mint, and [[strawberry|strawberry]] in a profile that’s genuinely unique — most fruit comparisons fall short.
The flower is unusual among edible-fruit species — large white-pink fleshy petals that are themselves edible (with a sweet flavor), surrounding a bright red column of red stamens. The petals are sometimes used as a salad ingredient in their own right.
Cultural
Despite being South American in origin, feijoa has become culturally embedded in New Zealand to an extent that surprises visitors. The species was introduced to New Zealand in the 1920s and naturalized in the country’s mild Pacific climate. By the 1980s feijoa had become one of the most-planted backyard fruit trees in the country; by the 2000s it had reached the cultural status of “essentially a New Zealand fruit.”
New Zealand cultural ubiquity:
- Feijoa season (autumn — March through May) is awaited and announced; supermarkets carry the fruit at scale; restaurants build menus around it
- The “feijoa glut” — when backyard trees produce more fruit than households can eat — is a seasonal cultural event, leading to neighborly fruit-sharing, feijoa-recipe exchanges, and Council green-waste pickups of unwanted fallen fruit
- Feijoa vodka, feijoa wine, feijoa preserves, feijoa salsa, feijoa muffins, feijoa crumble — entire cookbook chapters devoted to processing the seasonal abundance
- The “Feijoa Festival” in Kaikohe, Northland is an annual event
Australian, Californian, and Mediterranean cultivation is more modest but growing. The species’ tolerance of mild frost and drought makes it suited to a wide range of subtropical and warm-temperate climates.
Global production
Top producers: New Zealand, Colombia, Brazil, Russia (the Caucasus region), Azerbaijan, Georgia.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[eucalyptus]] · [[guava]] · [[clove]]
- Member of: [[plants]]
Sources
- Wikipedia — Feijoa
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].
What links here, and how
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Scientific
cousin of
- Mānuka Both Myrtaceae shrubs that thrive in NZ conditions; feijoa as the South American Myrtaceae food-fruit cousin to mānuka's medicinal-honey role.
1 inbound link · 4 outbound