Psidium is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Myrtaceae. It is native to warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere (Mexico, Central and South America, the West Indies the Galápagos islands). Many of the species bear edible fruits, and for this reason several are cultivated commercially. The most popularly cultivated species is the common guava, Psidium guajava.

Taxonomy

This genus was described first by Linnaeus in 1753. Fossils are known from the Paleogene of Patagonia.

Species

78 species are accepted. • # Psidium acidum (Mart. ex DC.) Landrum – Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Brazil • # Psidium acranthum Urb. – Hispaniola • # Psidium acutangulum DC. – Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia and west-central Brazil • # Psidium albescens Urb. – Jamaica • # Psidium amplexicaule Pers. – Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Leeward Is., and northeastern Brazil • # Psidium appendiculatum Kiaersk. – northern Venezuela and eastern Brazil • # Psidium araucanum Soares-Silva & Proença – São Paulo, Paraná • # Psidium australe Cambess. – central Colombia to Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina (Misiones) • # Psidium bahianum Landrum & Funch – Bahia • # Psidium brevipedunculatum Tuler & Landrum – Bahia • # Psidium brownianum Mart. ex DC. – northeast Brazil • # Psidium cattleyanum Sabine – eastern and southern Brazil and Uruguay; naturalized and invasive in Hawaii • # Psidium cauliflorum Landrum & Sobral – Bahia • # Psidium cupreum O.Berg – Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro • # Psidium densicomum Mart. ex DC. – Venezuela, Guyana, Bolivia, northwestern Brazil, Peru, and Colombia • # Psidium donianum O.Berg – Maranhão • # Psidium eugenii Kiaersk. – southeastern Brazil • # Psidium firmum O.Berg – Brazil • # Psidium friedrichsthalianum (O.Berg) Nied. – southern Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Venezuela • # Psidium fulvum McVaugh – Peru • # Psidium ganevii Landrum & Funch – Bahia • # Psidium glaziovianum Kiaersk. – southeastern Brazil • # Psidium grandifolium Mart. ex DC. – Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina • # Psidium grazielae Tuler & M.C.Souza – Espírito Santo • # Psidium guajava L. – Central and South America, West Indies, Mexico, Florida, Louisiana, Arizona; naturalized in parts of Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and on numerous oceanic islands • # Psidium guayaquilense Landrum & Cornejo – Ecuador • # Psidium guineense Sw. – Central and South America, Windward Islands, and Mexico • # Psidium guyanense Pers. – northern Brazil, Venezuela, and French Guiana • # Psidium harrisianum Urb. – Jamaica • # Psidium huanucoense Landrum – Huánuco • # Psidium × hypoglaucum Standl. (P. guajava × P. guineense) – Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras • # Psidium inaequilaterum O.Berg – southeastern Brazil • # Psidium involutisepalum Tuler, Carrijo & Peixoto – Rio de Janeiro • # Psidium itanareense O.Berg – São Paulo • # Psidium jacquinianum (O.Berg) Mattos – unknown; likely South America • # Psidium kennedyanum Morong – Brazil, Paraguay, NE Argentina • # Psidium langsdorffii O.Berg – Minas Gerais • # Psidium laruotteanum Cambess. – Costa Rica to Paraguay • # Psidium longipetiolatum D.Legrand – southern Brazil • # Psidium macahense O.Berg – Espírito Santo to Rio de Janeiro • # Psidium maribense Mart. ex DC. – Colombia, Venezuela, N Brazil • # Psidium minutifolium Krug & Urb. – Cuba • # Psidium misionum D.Legrand – Paraguay and Misiones • # Psidium montanum Sw. – Jamaica • # Psidium myrsinites DC. – Brazil • # Psidium myrtoides O.Berg – Brazil • # Psidium nannophyllum Alain – Dominican Rep • # Psidium nummularia (C.Wright ex Griseb.) C.Wright – Cuba • # Psidium nutans O.Berg – Brazil and northeastern Argentina • # Psidium oblongatum O.Berg – Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo • # Psidium oblongifolium O.Berg – southeastern Brazil • # Psidium occidentale Landrum & Parra-Os. – southwestern Colombia and Ecuador • # Psidium oligospermum Mart. ex DC. (synonyms Psidium sartorianum and Psidium sintenisii) – Mexico, Central America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, to tropical South America • # Psidium oncocalyx Burret – Bahia • # Psidium ovale (Spreng.) Burret – Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina • # Psidium parvifolium Griseb. – Cuba • # Psidium pedicellatum McVaugh – Colombia, Ecuador • # Psidium pigmeum Arruda – southeastern Brazil • # Psidium pulcherrimum Tuler & C.M.Costa – Bahia • # Psidium raimondii Burret – Peru • # Psidium ramboanum Mattos – Mato Grosso • # Psidium ratterianum Proença & Soares-Silva – Brasília • # Psidium refractum O.Berg – Goiás • # Psidium rhombeum O.Berg – Bahia • # Psidium riparium Mart. ex DC. – Brazil • # Psidium robustum O.Berg – Maranhão, Minas Gerais, São Paulo • # Psidium rostratum McVaugh – Peru • # Psidium rotundatum Griseb. – Cuba • # Psidium rotundidiscum Proença & Tuler – Bahia • # Psidium rufum Mart. ex DC. – Brazil • # Psidium rutidocarpum Ruiz & Pav. ex G.Don – Peru • # Psidium salutare (Kunth) O.Berg – Central and South America, West Indies, southern Mexico • # Psidium schenckianum Kiaersk. – eastern Brazil • # Psidium sessiliflorum (Landrum) Proença & Tuler – western Bahia • # Psidium sorocabense O.Berg – southeastern Brazil • # Psidium striatulum DC. – Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname • # Psidium suffruticosum O.Berg – eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, central, southeastern, and southern Brazil • # Psidium urquiolanum Landrum & Z.Acosta – eastern Cuba