"Arazá" redirects here. In Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, this usually refers to the Strawberry Guava

Strawberry guava

Psidium cattleianum, named in honour of notable English horticulturist Sir William Cattley, commonly known as Cattley guava or Peruvian guava, is a small tree , bearing small red or yellow fruit, which are somewhat sour but sometimes eaten or made into jam...

 (Psidium littorale = P. cattleianum).

Eugenia stipitata (Araza, Portuguese common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 Arazá, Araçá-boi) is a fruit tree

Fruit tree

A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by people — all trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, the term 'fruit tree' is limited to those that provide fruit for...

 native to Amazon Rainforest

Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...

 vegetation

Vegetation

Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...

 in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. It has recalcitrant seeds which should not be grown in soil, but prefer semi-rotting wood. In any case, germanation is very slow, and may take 3-6 months.

The fruit is distinctive and very appealing, but also very acidic (pH 2.4, similar to lemons). It is usually used to make juice or for culinary purposes such as making jam. It is cultivated in California, but is not very commercially exploited due to the poor shipping ability of the fruits. Some are large (up to 750g).

The trees are small to medium sized and tolerate some flooding and droughts of up to 2 months. They are hermaphroditic (possibly allogamous) and there is considerable interest in further developing the crop through selective breeding

Selective breeding

Selective breeding is the process of breeding plants and animals for particular genetic traits. Typically, strains that are selectively bred are domesticated, and the breeding is sometimes done by a professional breeder. Bred animals are known as breeds, while bred plants are known as varieties,...

.

External links

• Eugenia stipitata photos