Evergreen sprawling shrub of the myrtle family, 2-3 m high, native to South America.
The branches of the plant are grayish-yellow, brittle. The leaves are small, opposite, entire, dense, leathery, shiny above and silver-gray below. Blooms in June. Flowers axillary, solitary or 2-5, large, monoecious, four-lobed. The leaves are fleshy, sweetish, edible, white on the outside, purple-pink inside. The number of stamens is 50-80, the pistil is one. The fruit is an oval oblong or round multi-seeded berry. The skin of the fruit is thick. Fruit weight – from 15 to 130 g. Cream-colored pulp, sour-sweet, dense, with a pleasant smell. Feijoa fructifies from the 3-4th year of life. The seeds are very small.
Grown in the Crimea, Georgia, Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus.
A remarkable feature of feijoa berries is the presence of water-soluble iodine compounds in them (in 1 kg of fresh fruits – from 2-10 mg), due to which the fruits are especially valued as a medicine for thyroid diseases and atherosclerosis.