2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Feijoa (lat. Feijoa) - small evergreen trees belonging to the Myrtle family.
History
Feijoa was first discovered by Europeans at the end of the 19th century - they saw these bizarre fruits in Brazil. And they owe such an interesting Latin name to their discoverer João da Silva Feij, who at that time was the director of the Museum of Natural History.
Description
Feijoa is an evergreen spreading shrub or tree that can reach a height of four meters. Their root system lies in the soil very superficially and is characterized by compactness and dense branching (like many other moisture-loving crops). Feijoa trunks are always covered with rough greenish-brown bark.
The entire leathery leaves of the plant are always quite tough and opposite to each other. All of them are oval in shape and sit on short petioles. Above, they are dark green and smooth, and below they are pubescent and greenish-grayish. Quite often, they are saggy and are characterized by feathery venation.
Single axillary four-membered flowers can be either paired or collected in corymbose inflorescences of several pieces. They are usually white at the edges, and pinkish closer to the center. All flowers are bisexual, self-sterile (a number of varieties also differ in partial self-fertility) and are equipped with many stamens (from fifty to eighty pieces). And they are usually pollinated by insects. As for flowering itself, it occurs in May and June (and November-December in the Southern Hemisphere). In the tropics, flowering can be both remontant (continuous) and periodic waves. True, mass flowering in most cases lasts no more than three weeks. At the same time, the feijoa is characterized by a rather strong abscission of the ovaries, the coefficient of useful ovaries is usually no more than 15 - 17%.
Feijoa fruits are rather large and juicy fleshy berries, the taste and aroma of which resembles kiwi, pineapple and strawberries. The color of the fruit is almost always dark green, and their shape can vary from wide-rounded to elongated-oval. Slightly less often, you can also meet cuboid feijoa. The length of the fruit ranges from two to five (much less often to seven) centimeters, and the diameter is from one and a half to three to four (occasionally up to five) centimeters. The mass of most fruits ranges from fifteen to sixty grams, however, feijoa weighing one hundred five to one hundred and twenty grams are occasionally found.
Cloned (rooted, grafted) plants begin to bear fruit approximately in the third or fourth year, and seedlings - only after reaching the age of six or seven.
Usage
Feijoa is actively used in cooking - these fancy fruits are added to salads, and they also make jams, preserves, lemonades and compotes from them. In addition, peeled fruits are often ground and combined with sugar or honey - such a mixture can be consumed raw or used as a filling for baked goods.
In dietary nutrition, feijoa is also far from the last place. By the way, these fruits are the real champions in iodine content.
Growing and caring
Feijoa is not particularly demanding on the soil. However, this crop will grow best of all on a mixture of humus, turf and sand. From time to time, feijoa needs to be transplanted - in the first two to three years this is usually done annually (while always keeping a clod of earth and not trying to deepen the plant too much), and then the plants are transplanted every three years.
When hot weather is established, feijoa is sprayed with water once a day (water at room temperature is used for this purpose). In summer, this crop should be watered abundantly, and in winter - moderately. In addition, in the spring and summer, it is also necessary to feed it.
Recommended:
Feijoa: Indoor Sowing
Feijoa fruits on sale are not a gimmick for a long time. But this exotic berry is not cheap, and very large fruits rarely hit the shelves. If you are a big fan of these healthy juicy bright green berries, consider planting feijoa indoors. When propagated by seeds, the tree will begin to bear fruit after at least 4 years. In this case, the fruits can reach 70-90 g
Sowing Feijoa At Home
Feijoa is mainly grown for the fruit of the plant - large juicy oval-shaped berries. The flowers are edible, though. And in the homeland of feijoa - in Brazil - various delicacies are even prepared from petals - jams and preserves, jellies and compotes, and infusions are made. The berries have a sweet and sour taste. This is no longer a gimmick, and is sold almost everywhere. However, it is quite possible to keep such a plant at home in order to harvest your own crop
Mysterious And Evergreen Feijoa
Such a wonderful plant as feijoa was discovered in the 19th century and named after its discoverer Joanie de Silva Feijo, director of the Museum of Natural History in Brazil. Often it is also called pineapple herb or Akka Sellova. Its fruit tastes really like pineapple, strawberry or guava. Feijoa was brought to our country from South America
Growing Feijoa At Home
Let's talk now about one exotic guest in the apartments of Russian florists. Feijoa is used with great success in landscaping premises, where this plant perfectly adapts to home conditions. With knowledge of this amazing plant, you can observe its flowering, and even fruiting in city apartments
