Eugenia pseudopsidium Jacq.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Myrtaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Eugenia pseudopsidium Jacq.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Shrub 1—5(—10) m tall, usually many-branched from base; bark light gray, smooth; twigs hispidulous, becoming glabrous. Leaf blades 3.5-9 x 2-5 cm, elliptic, ovate, to lanceolate, chartaceous, glabrous, the venation yellowish, reticulate, forming submarginal loops, prominent on lower surface, the apex obtuse to shortly acuminate, the acumen blunt, the base obtuse to nearly rounded, the margins entire, thickened, tapering onto the petiole at base; petioles 3-6 mm long, hispidulous. Flowers 1-3 in axillary racemes with axis of 1 mm or less long; bracts oblong; pedicels glabrous, 1.5-2 cm long; bracteoles triangular. Hypanthium light green, urn-shaped, 1-1.5 mm long, glabrous, the sepals ovate, in unequal pairs, 3-3.5 mm long; petals white, oblong, concave, spreading, 4.5-5 mm long; disk ca. 2 mm wide; stamens numerous, the filaments ca. 5 mm long, glabrous. Berry nearly globose to obovoid, 1.3-2 cm diam., turning from yellowish green to red-orange, with persistent green sepals.

  • Discussion

    Eugenia portoricensis DC, Prodr. 3: 266. 1828. Eugenia thomasiana O. Berg, Linnaea 27: 183. 1856.

    Common names: bastard guava, Christmas cherry, wild guava.

  • Distribution

    Common shrub of moist to dry forests, mostly in understory, but also in disturbed, open areas. Road to Bordeaux (A2853), Bethany (B341) Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; Hispaniola, Puerto Rico (including Vieques and Culebra), and Lesser Antilles.

    West Indies| Puerto Rico South America| West Indies| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|