The form of P. cattleianum trees depends on the environment. In full sunlight, it is a slow growing evergreen shrub, 2–4 m tall and often branching from the base with an overall round shape. Under shaded conditions, P. cattleianum is erect and branches weakly and can reach 8 m tall.
The slender stem and branches are smooth, pinkish, greenish or greyish brown in colour. Bark peels off in small papery flakes. Twigs are glabrous and cylindrical, and young leaves and twigs are red in colour. Leaves are opposite and decussate, shortly petiolate (petiole 3–10 mm long), elliptic to obovate, 4.5–12 cm long and 2–6 cm wide, with a blunt to slightly acuminate apex and a cuneiform sharp base. They are thick and coriaceous, upper surface dark green in colour, glossy, waxy, flat or slightly folded around the main rib. The lower surface is glabrous, whitish-green in colour, punctuated with small oil cavities (Arruda and Fontenelle, 1994), with the main rib prominent near the base but the 8–10 pairs of lateral ribs are not prominent, forming an intra-marginal rib 1–3 mm from the edge of the limb. Young leaves and twigs are red in colour.
The fragrant flowers are axillary and solitary, rarely grouped in 2 or 3. The four to five white petals are obovate, 5–6 mm long and wide. Flowers bear numerous stamens, 256 to 480 according to Raseira and Raseira (1996), and a greenish disc-shaped stigma. Ovary is tri- to pentalocular, mostly tetralocular. Fruit is a globulous to obovoid berry, 1.5–4 cm in diameter, bearing persistent sepals at the apex. The thin skin is dark green when unripe, and then red to purple for P. cattleianum var. cattleianum and sulfur-yellow for P. cattleianum var. lucidum. Pulp is soft, whitish, and contains several (2–100) seeds (Huenneke and Vitousek, 1990;Raseira and Raseira, 1996;Normand, 2002a). Seeds are reniform, 2–3 mm long, with a yellowish testa. Fruit has a pleasant, strawberry-like flavour when ripe, hence its common name.
The use of remote sensing to map the introduction and spread of P. cattleianum in Hawaiian forests has been investigated (Barbosa et al., 2016). Use of airborne imaging spectroscopy followed by classification with a Biased Support Vector Machine framework is suggested as showing promise for detecting P. cattleianum invasion.
Related invasive species
- Psidium cattleianum
Related Farm Practice
- Invasive species
- Pastures
- Plantations
- Forestry
P. cattleianum is naturalized in many tropical and subtropical countries after introduction as an ornamental or a fruit tree. It has invaded humid areas such as rainforests on tropical islands especially in the Pacific and Indian Oceans where it displaces native species and threatens their survival. It thrives in a large range of ecological conditions and reproduces efficiently by seeds and suckers. Once established, it forms dense stands. This species shows allelopathic activity and its fruits host fruit flies (Motooka et al., 2003). Seeds continue to be available via mail-order on websites or seed catalogues, and the species will likely spread further.
P. cattleianum is not a weed of crops but is an invasive species which threatens native forests and forestry plantations, and which has invaded meadows and pastures crowding out desirable forage plants (Hosaka and Thistle, 1954).