Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_psidium_cattleianum
Strawberry guava
Psidium cattleyanum
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About Strawberry guava
Strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) is a Brazilian fruit tree introduced to Hawaiʻi and now a damaging wet-forest invader. Psidium cattleianum is an older spelling widely retained in management literature. Kauaʻi management plans and botanical records document island presence. Shade tolerance, clonal thickets, animal-dispersed seeds, and a persistent seed bank suppress native regeneration and complicate control. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Kauaʻi evidence
Bishop Museum 2025 Checklist wide: Taxon=Psidium cattleyanum; Status=nat; K=K. Identification and ecological statements have the separately linked reviewed sources. The checklist establishes documented island presence; it does not establish current abundance or invasion extent. The 1918–1959 Kauaʻi reforestation working register records 9,405 plants under Psidium cattleianum across 8 entries dated 1936–1952. These are recorded planting quantities, not counts of surviving trees, and they do not by themselves establish current persistence, naturalization, or ecological impact. Source: Kauaʻi Reforestation Plantings 1918–1959 working register (user-supplied; reconciled 6 October 2026).
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Psidium cattleyanum
- Common names
- Strawberry guava
- Hawaiian names
- Waiawi
- Other names
- Psidium cattleianum · Strawberry guava · Waiawi · Cattley guava · cherry guava · Psidium littorale · Psidium cattleyanum
- Family
- Myrtaceae
- Order
- Myrtales
- Record type
- Species or taxonomic group
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Conservation priority; formal rank not listed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-05
- Evidence limits
- Current extent and population trajectory require refreshed surveys; public occurrence is island level only.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Wet/mesic forest · Disturbed forest
- Food and resource needs
- Light, water, nutrients, and suitable soil or substrate
- Reproduction
- Viable propagules and suitable establishment conditions
- Shelter
- Suitable soil, substrate, and vegetation structure
- Growth form
- Tree shrub
Threats and conservation
- Threats
- Major invasive pressure on forest regeneration
- Conservation actions
- Biocontrol where approved, control crews, fencing synergy
- Monitoring
- Biocontrol where approved, control crews, fencing synergy
- Data gaps
- Additional ecological and conservation citations are recommended
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not assessed
- Seasonal description
- Strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) is a Brazilian fruit tree introduced to Hawaiʻi and now a damaging wet-forest invader. Psidium cattleianum is an older spelling widely retained in management literature. Kauaʻi management plans and botanical records document island presence. Shade tolerance, clonal thickets, animal-dispersed seeds, and a persistent seed bank suppress native regeneration and complicate control. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Sources and further reading
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Starr_031002-0033_Psidium_cattleianum.jpg
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A600760-1/general-information
- https://www.hear.org/pier/species/psidium_cattleianum.htm
- https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/44798
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A600760-1
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/files/2013/02/Lihue-Koloa_Sept2010_FINAL.pdf
- https://ntbg.org/database/herbarium/detail/PTBG1000098542
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf
- https://www.kauaiisc.org/invasive-plants/do-not-plant-list/
