General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Soil pH Preferences: Moderately acid (5.6 – 6.0)
Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Neutral (6.6 – 7.3)
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 8b -9.4 °C (15 °F) to -6.7 °C (20 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 11
Plant Height: 10 to 20 feet (3-6 m)
Plant Spread: 10 to 20 feet (3-6 m)
Leaves: Evergreen
Fragrant
Other: blue green with silvery, pubescent undersides
Fruit: Showy
Edible to birds
Fruiting Time: Other: About 6 months after flowers appear
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Bi-Color: Deep Pink and White
Bloom Size: 1"-2"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer
Summer
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Patio/Ornamental/Small Tree
Xeriscapic
Espalier
Topiary
Uses: Windbreak or Hedge
Shade Tree
Flowering Tree
Edible Parts: Fruit
Flowers
Eating Methods: Raw
Cooked
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Birds
Butterflies
Hummingbirds
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Humidity tolerant
Drought tolerant
Salt tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Needs specific temperature: 15C
Days to germinate: 21-42
Depth to plant seed: 2mm deep
Sow in situ
Start indoors
Can handle transplanting
Other info: Sow indoors in Spring. Transplant when large enough to handle to 3" pots. Overwinter under glass or indoors. Plant out the following Spring after frost. Does not like alkaline soil.
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Layering
Other: November is the best time to take cuttings which should be 1/5" in diameter with at least 3 nodes
Pollinators: Birds
Bees
Various insects
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
Needs excellent drainage in pots
Awards and Recognitions: Other: UC Davis Arboretum All Star

Image
Common names
  • Pineapple Guava
  • Feijoa
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Feijoa sellowiana
  • Synonym: Acca sellowiana

Photo Gallery
Location: Botanical garden of Crete
Date: 2022-06-01
Location: Botanical Gardens of the State of Georgia...Athens, Ga
Date: 2019-05-17
Pineapple Guava 029
Location: Pacific Northwest
Date: 2010-07-13
Location: Botanical Gardens of the State of Georgia...Athens, Ga
Date: 2019-05-15
Pineapple Guava 014
Location: Pacific Northwest, zone 8
Date: 2013-07-08
Location: Botanical garden of Crete
Date: 2022-06-01
Photo by Blossom68

Date: 2011-06-08
Location: Kyle, Texas
Date: 2018-04-30
Lovely bloom on a care free shrub
Location: Botanical Gardens of the State of Georgia...Athens, Ga
Date: 2022-05-28
Natures Fireworks - Pineapple Guava 008
Photo by flaflwrgrl
Location: Botanical Gardens of the State of Georgia...Athens, Ga
Date: 2018-06-10
Pineapple Guava 011
Location: Austin ,TX
Date: November
Location: Botanical garden of Crete
Date: 2022-06-01

In the depths of the tree, there's a delicate blossom beginning i
Location: San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio, Texas
Date: 2022-04-04
Location: Orange County, California
Date: 2018-04-23
Location: National Botanical Garden, DC, Virginia :) | May, 2022
Date: 2022-05-28
Location: Botanical garden of Crete
Date: 2022-06-01
Location: Botanical garden of Crete
Date: 2022-06-01
Location: Pacific Northwest
Date: 2011-10-02
The leaves have a lovely velvety silver texture on the back side,
Location: Pacific Northwest
Date: 2011-10-02
Photo by flaflwrgrl
Location: Kyle, TX
Date: 2020-05-03
Location: Austin ,TX
Date: May
Photo by robertduval14
Location: Botanical garden of Crete
Date: 2022-06-01
Location: Pacific Northwest, zone 8
Date: Oct 16, 2012 
New buds in the fall
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2013-05-13 
Photo taken at Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens, Port Orange, Florida
Photo by flaflwrgrl
Location: San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio, Texas
Date: 2022-04-04
Location: zone 8 Lake City, Fl.
Date: 2013-10-26
seed is at the knife point
Location: Copenhagen Botanical Garden, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Location: Fronton, Haute-Garonne France.
credit: Didier Descouens

photo credit: KENPEI
Location: Botanical garden of Crete
Location: Pacific Northwest
Date: 2011-10-02
This photo is of suckers coming from the roots.
Location: zone 8 Lake City, Fl.
Date: 2015-02-14
Location: Pacific Northwest, zone 8
Date: Oct 16, 2012
Location: Barcelona, Spain |April, 2023 (uploaded. This image is much older)
Date: 2023-04-03
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2015-02-20
Location: zone 8 Lake City, Fl.
Date: 2013-10-24
Location: Pacific Northwest
Date: 2011-10-02
The top side of the leaves are glossy and smooth, with a a mid gr
Location: Pacific Northwest
Date: 2011-10-02
Immature fruit
Location: Pacific Northwest
Date: 2011-10-02
Location: Sarasota, FL
Date: 2015-04-30
At Selby Gardens
Location: Sarasota, FL
Date: 2015-04-30
At Selby Gardens
Photo by flaflwrgrl
Photo by flaflwrgrl
Photo by flaflwrgrl
Photo by flaflwrgrl

photo credit: KENPEI
Location: Kenner, La. 70065
Date: Aug 2015
seedling
Location: Kenner, La. 70065
Date: September 2015
seedling / sappling
This plant is tagged in:
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Comments:
  • Posted by plantladylin (Sebastian, Florida - Zone 10a) on Feb 18, 2018 9:12 AM concerning plant:
    Acca sellowiana is a multistemmed, evergreen shrub that can be grown as a hedge, pruned to a desired shape or form, or trained as a small tree with a single trunk. Although adaptable to most types of soil, it prefers a slightly acid, well drained soil. If grown in very dry climates, supplemental watering will be needed. Pineapple Guava is also tolerant of salt spray, which makes it suitable for coastal gardens. This is a relatively disease and pest free, low maintenance plant with very beautiful flowers that usually appear during April and May.
  • Posted by flaflwrgrl (North Fl. - Zone 8b) on Oct 27, 2013 7:30 PM concerning plant:
    Acca sellowiana, or pineapple guava as it is commonly called, is not a guava at all. It is actually in the Myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is native to South America.
    The flower petals are edible, and picking the petals will not inhibit the fruit from forming. As has been mentioned in another comment, the petals are reputed to have the flavor of either popcorn or marshmallows, but I tasted them & could not identify either of those flavors. They were pretty tasteless, actually. other than a very slight sweetness. Frankly, I wouldn't bother with trying to gather the petals & eat them.
    The fruit matures in the fall and is ripe when it falls to the ground. The fruit can vary in size from roughly 1 inch wide by 1.5 inches long to the size of a chicken egg. The fragrance of the fruit is very nice, fruity of course & sort of like perfume. To eat, you cut in half width wise, take a spoon, and scoop out the fruit from the skin. To me, it tastes neither much like a pineapple nor like a guava, but I would say it's much more like the flavor of kiwi & I do find it appealing. It is a bit grainy, but in a soft way, not a gritty, sandy way.
    It requires 50 hours of winter chill in order to fruit & the plant is frost tolerant.
    Cuttings should be taken in November.
  • Posted by Bubbles (Austin, Tx - Zone 8b) on Dec 5, 2011 3:30 PM concerning plant:
    Makes a beautiful shrub or small tree. The flowers supposedly taste like popcorn, others say marshmallows. I couldn't taste either one. I trimmed up one to make a small tree. Another is still in a pot, but had fruit this past year in spite of the drought.
  • Posted by greenman on Nov 29, 2015 7:58 AM concerning plant:
    My understanding is that it takes 2 plants to produce a good quantity of fruit. Although it will produce some with only 1 plant, cross pollination greatly increases fruit set, and perhaps taste and size? Can anyone confirm this?

    I have also read that grafted plants are much better than seedling plants. Is this mainly fruit-set? Taste? Size?
Plant Events from our members
MunchkinsMom On November 21, 2015 Transplanted
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MunchkinsMom On October 10, 2015 Obtained plant
UCD Plant Sale 1 gallon
AndreA33 On November 25, 2014 Obtained plant
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Discussion Threads about this plant
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Pineapple Guava Fruit by valleylynn Oct 16, 2012 5:03 PM 6
Pineapple Guava & an adorable warbler by Blossom68 Mar 29, 2018 8:59 AM 1

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