feijoa

fei·jo·a

F0069550 (fā-zhô′ə, -jō′-, -hō′-)n. An evergreen shrub (Acca sellowiana syn. Feijoa sellowiana) native to South America and cultivated as an ornamental and for its sweet, tart fruit. Also called pineapple guava.

[New Latin Feijoa, former genus name, after João da Silva Feijó (1760-1824), Brazilian soldier and naturalist.]

feijoa

(fiːˈdʒəʊə) n1. (Botany) an evergreen myrtaceous shrub, Feijoa sellowiana, of South America2. (Botany) the fruit of this shrub[C19: from New Latin, named after J. da Silva Feijo, 19th-century Spanish botanist]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	feijoa - South American shrub having edible greenish plumlike fruitfeijoa bushpineapple guava, feijoa - dark-green kiwi-sized tropical fruit with white flesh; used chiefly for jellies and preservesgenus Feijoa - small South American shrubs or treesbush, shrub - a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
	2.	feijoa - dark-green kiwi-sized tropical fruit with white flesh; used chiefly for jellies and preservespineapple guavaedible fruit - edible reproductive body of a seed plant especially one having sweet fleshfeijoa, feijoa bush - South American shrub having edible greenish plumlike fruit

Translations

Feijoa

(also Acca), a genus of shrubby evergreen plants of the family Myrtaceae. There are three known species, growing in subtropical regions of South America. One species, F. sellow-iana, has been cultivated in Europe since the end of the 19th century. It is cultivated in many countries having a subtropical climate. In the USSR the plant is grown in Western Georgia, in the Sochi region, and on the southern coast of the Crimea.

The shrub reaches a height of 3 m and has a dense, spreading crown. The leaves are opposite, entire, and elliptical; the undersides bear silvery hairs and aromatic glandules. The bisexual, axillary flowers have crimson or pink stamens and are solitary, paired, or in inflorescences. Flowering begins in May and continues for about two months. The fruits are dark-green berries with a waxy coating; they are 4–7 cm long and 3–5 cm wide. Their thick, juicy pulp is tart and has the scent of strawberry or pineapple. The berries ripen in October and November. They contain 5.12–10.46 percent sugars, 1.5–3.6 percent malic acid, and about 2.5 percent pectin; there are 2.06–3.9 mg of iodine per kg. The fruits are eaten fresh or in processed form (jam, wine); they keep for no more than a month. Adult plants can withstand temperatures as low as –12°C; they are drought resistant but do not tolerate excessive lime or moisture in the soil. The following high-quality varieties have been developed in the USSR: No. 89-VIR, Nikitskii aromatnyi, and Krymskii rannii.

Propagation is by seed, cuttings, or grafts. Fruiting first occurs in the fourth or fifth year. The yield is about 10 tons per hectare. F. sellowiana is used to beautify parks.

REFERENCES

Ekimov, V. P. Subtropicheskoe plodovodstvo. Moscow, 1955.
Zhukovskii, P. M. Kul’turnye rasteniia i ikh sorodichi, 3rd ed. Leningrad, 1971.

A. D. ALEKSANDROV

feijoa

Related to feijoa: Feijoa sellowiana

noun

Synonyms for feijoa

noun South American shrub having edible greenish plumlike fruit

Synonyms

feijoa bush

Related Words

pineapple guava
feijoa
genus Feijoa
bush
shrub

feijoa

fei·jo·a

feijoa

Feijoa

Feijoa

REFERENCES

feijoa

Synonyms for feijoa

noun South American shrub having edible greenish plumlike fruit

Synonyms

Related Words

noun dark-green kiwi-sized tropical fruit with white flesh

Synonyms

Related Words