Acca sellowiana

Acca sellowiana, the pineapple guava, is that rare plant that is handsome enough for the border and generous enough for the kitchen. It came to botanical notice through the German naturalist Friedrich Sellow, who collected it in southern Brazil in 1819, and it carries his name still; for years it was known, and is often still sold, as Feijoa sellowiana. Its true home is the subtropical highlands of southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, and from there it has traveled to warm gardens the world over.

It is an evergreen shrub of quiet good looks, with gray-green leaves that flash silver-white undersides in a breeze. In late spring it flowers, and the flowers are remarkable: thick, fleshy petals, white without and flushed purple within, surrounding a startling boss of long crimson stamens. The petals themselves are edible, sweet and faintly spicy, a treat to graze straight from the bush, and the birds and bees that come for them do the work of pollination. By late autumn the fruit ripens, oval and gray-green, with an aromatic flesh that tastes of pineapple, apple, and mint at once, eaten fresh from the skin or made into jam.

In the garden it is endlessly useful: an informal evergreen hedge, a screen, a small multi-stemmed specimen, or the backbone of an edible landscape. It takes drought and coastal wind in stride, thrives across the warm South and into California, and asks only sun and free-draining soil. For the heaviest fruit set, grow more than one, since most plants crop best with a partner nearby.