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September 3, 2006 : Acca sellowiana
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Keywords: Myrtaceae | Acca sellowiana (O.Berg.) Burret. syn. Feijoa sellowiana (O. Berg) O. Berg | cultivated in Colombian Andean valleys of Boyacá and Cundinamarca
A nod of appreciation again to Andreas from Bogotá (aka Quimbaya@Flickr) for submitting today's photograph (original image | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Many thanks, Andreas!
Many references use Feijoa sellowiana as the scientific name for this South American species, but it has generally been accepted to be Acca sellowiana since 1941 (see discussion on this thread, though note that the plant being identified is not Acca – the discussion just veered to a different topic). It's an example of a how a species name can become entrenched and difficult to change in the minds of many people. This is particularly likely to happen when a plant is of economic importance (if I'm allowed to make such a generalization), as is the case with Acca sellowiana.
Feijoa, as it remains commonly known (and adding to the entrenchment of the synonym), is grown primarily for its edible fruit, which is purported to taste like a combination of pineapple and strawberry or pineapple and guava. I haven't sampled it, but it's on my list of things to try. More economic and other information about this species is available from the Plants for a Future Database and the California Rare Fruit Growers.
Botany resource link: Diversity, Endemism, and Extinction in the Flora and Vegetation of New Caledonia, a paper by Porter P. Lowry II of the Missouri Botanical Garden. The online article contains a number of photographs of plants seen nowhere else in the world.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at September 3, 2006 12:00 AM
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Posted by: Maire Smith at September 3, 2006 12:42 AM
Acca sellowiana - Z8 - RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths
Acca sellowiana - Z8-10 - A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Brickell, Cole, Zuk
Posted by: Beverley at September 3, 2006 7:26 AM
you can eat the petals which have a soft velvety texture and a sweet taste
Posted by: Petra at September 3, 2006 9:32 AM
Grows in Seattle and easily found in nurseries at present, but I have never seen fruits here.
Posted by: Ron B at September 3, 2006 10:08 AM
The fruit is quite common here in New Zealand, people describe as perfumey. It is an acquired taste!
Posted by: Lorinda at September 3, 2006 1:49 PM
Interesting - this can be found as a street tree here in SF (although not as common as Callistemon or Metrosideros) - if I ever see fruit that's not covered in black road grime I'll give it a taste! =)
Posted by: Eric in SF at September 4, 2006 6:40 AM
I have tasted the fruit here in Phoenix kind of bitter and not much meat but, I am sure else where the fruit is much larger. Nice pic.
Posted by: Jared Tempe, Az at September 5, 2006 1:16 PM
No sul do Brasil é conhecida como "goiaba gaúcha". O fruto pode ser visto em Feijoa
Posted by: Vanderley Benedetti at September 25, 2006 8:53 AM
Thanks Vanderley. If I interpret what you wrote correctly, you said that Feijoa is known as goiaba in the south of Brazil – and to see the fruit, click on the link.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at September 26, 2006 1:40 PM
It's a wonderful phto, i will post en my blog: http://arboretto.blogspot.com/
You are welcome.
Posted by: lucia moura at July 18, 2007 1:02 PM
Fruit deserves to be known as having a perfumed and sumptuous flavour all of its own. Fruit is best eaten once fallen (end of April/May in NZ - southern hemisphere). On smooth and thin skinned cultivars, skin can be eaten. A slow growing long-lived tree - a must have in your garden - makes a great hedge too
Posted by: Russell Frost at November 3, 2008 4:37 PM
South America produces a host of fruits which are relatively unknown north of the Panama Canal. Perhap someday Andreas can provide a photo of guanabana, which I have eaten, but never seen as a flower or plant. The plant life of S.A. is one of the richest and most mysterious resources of the world---all the more reason to conserve it now.
Posted by: Dave Vandegrift at September 3, 2009 11:59 PM
South America produces a host of fruits which are relatively unknown north of the Panama Canal. Perhap someday Andreas can provide a photo of guanabana, which I have eaten, but never seen as a flower or plant. The plant life of S.A. is one of the richest and most mysterious resources of the world---all the more reason to conserve it now.
Posted by: Dave Vandegrift at September 4, 2009 12:10 AM
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"edible fruit, which is purported to taste like a combination of pineapple and strawberry or pineapple and guava. I haven't sampled it, but it's on my list of things to try."
I can't say I agree about the pinepple or strawberry flavours. It just tastes to me like a much, much *better* guava.