Psidium cattleianum strawberry guava

Psidium cattleianum leaves, fruit. From An Illustrated Manual of Pacific Coast Trees, Howard E. McMinn & Evelyn Maino

Strawberry guava is a shrub to small tree with dark red, cherry-sized, edible fruit. In squirrel-infested areas where anything edible, from plums to olives, is at risk, the guavas are left untouched. Evidently squirrels learn from others what may be eaten. The fruit is pleasant for humans to eat, with lots of pale seeds, but not as tasty as the larger, yellowish, common guava (P. guajava). A specimen of strawberry guava is in the Stanford Avenue greenbelt opposite Peter Coutts Road.

Name derivation: Psidium – Psidium is the Greek word for pomegranate; cattleianum – William Cattley (d. 1832), English horticulturalist.