Feijoa
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{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Feijoa | image = Feijoa cut.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Pineapple Guava Feijoa sellowiana fruit | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Magnoliopsida | ordo = Myrtales | familia = Myrtaceae | genus = Feijoa | species = F. sellowiana | binomial = Feijoa sellowiana | binomial_authority = O. Berg }}
The Feijoa (Feijoa sellowiana, synonym Acca sellowiana), also known as Pineapple Guava, is an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1-7 m in height, originating from the highlands of southern Brazil and northern Argentina.
Image:Feijoas on white.jpg The pulpy fruit is green, chicken-egg-sized, and ellipsoid-shaped. It has a slightly tart taste, and is not fully ripe until it falls to earth in autumn. This plant is monotypic in its genus. Like the closely-related guava, the fruit pulp has a gritty texture which is utlised in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant.
German botanist Ernst Berger named Feijoa after Don da Silva Feijoa, a Spanish botanist.
It is a warm-temperate to subtropical plant that will also grow in the tropics but requires some winter chilling to fruit. In the northern hemisphere it has been cultivated as far north as western Scotland but does not fruit every year, as winter temperatures below about -9°C will kill the flower buds. Large quantities are grown in New Zealand, where the fruit is a popular garden tree, and where the fruit is commonly available in season. It is also possible to buy Feijoa yogurt fruit drinks etc. in New Zealand.
Image:Feijoa flower02.jpg
Some grafted cultivars are self fertile, most are not and require a pollenizer. Seedlings may or may not be of usable quality, and may or may not be self fertile. In the native range, the pollinator is a bird, but bees can accomplish some pollination, especially large brawny bees, such as bumblebees or the large carpenter bee.
