| Natural History
 Guava, Kuawa
(Psidium guajava)
Guavas are one of the most common wild fruit in Hawaii. They grow well in conditions that are unfavorable for many fruit. The guava is a native of tropical America and the name is derived from the Haiti name for the fruit, guayaba. Although they are available from April to October, about a third of the crop comes in the spring and the remainder in the fall.
Most sources say guava was introduced to Hawaii in the early 1800s by Don Francisco de Paula Marin. It is one of many fruit specimens the horticulturalist brought to Hawaii from many places in the world. However, Thrum's Hawaiian Annual says that the "common lemon guava" was brought to the Islands by G. Montgomery in 1851. Sereno E. Bishop, a clergyman born in 1824, wrote that guavas were a choice fruit in the later 1830's and did not become wild until 20 years later.
The plant adapted so well to the Hawaiian soil and climate that it was a serious pest by the 1850s. In some moderately moist areas where cattle, horses, pigs and birds feed, fast-growing guava has become a serious weed that has crowded out native vegetation.
Since 1951 horticulturists of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station have been planting and selecting guavas from among wild ones growing in the Islands and have also introduced a large number of plants and seeds from Africa, the Philippines and other areas. The effort has been to develop fine-quality fruit with high ascorbic acid content for commercial use.
Along with the aromatic clove, eucalyptus, and allspice, the guava is a member of the myrtle (Myrtaceae) family. It is a shrub-like evergreen tree growing from a few feet to 20 feet, bearing at 18 months and continuing to fruit for 40 years. The 3 to 6-inch, blunt leaves are slightly hairy underneath. Its trunk and older branches are covered with light brown bark that scales off here and there in irregular patches to expose the greenish layers beneath. These then gradually change through yellow to brown and, in turn, fall away. The small white and yellow guava flower is subtly fragrant and has numerous spreading stamens.
The fruit of the tree is about three inches long and varies from ovoid to pear-shaped. The fruits are usually yellow and can be either smooth or rough-skinned. Inside there is usually a pale yellow to pink flesh in which numerous hard seeds are imbedded. The flesh of the fruit can be extremely sour to very sweet. Hawaiians call the fruit "kuawa," a transliteration into Hawaiian of its haole name. This fruit is one of the favorite foods of the maggot of the introduced Mediterranean fruit-fly, a serious pest of African origin.
The intrepid Spanish and Portuguese are responsible for spreading guava worldwide. One hundred fifty species of guava, which originated in the American tropics between Mexico and Peru, now grow wild in frost-free areas throughout the world from 27 degrees north latitude to 30 degrees south latitude. The Aztec name for guava is xalxocotl, meaning "sand plum", which describes the texture of pureed guava. Guavas currently grow in Florida, California, Arizona, Australia, India, South Africa, and Southeast Asia.
One variety of guava, called the "apple of the tropics," is a dessert guava. This low-acid, high-sugar guava is popular in India, Indonesia and Thailand and is eaten half-ripe while still crunchy. Gardeners can produce it in Hawaii by growing Hong Kong Pink, Ruby Supreme or Holmberg.
 Another kind of guava, the Strawberry Guava (Psidium cattleianum) is frequently found by hikers in Hawaii. This small tree grows up to about 20 feet. It has smooth bark, shiny dark green leaves, and white flowers with numerous stamens. This sweet, yet tangy fruit is called "cherry guava" in some parts of the world. (It does not taste like a cherry or a strawberry.) Hawaiians call it the waiawi. The fruit is red-purple, round or oval and about one-half to one inch in diameter with white flesh and many seeds. There is also a larger yellow strawberry guava (P. cattleianum var. lucidum).
The strawberry guava has sturdy branches, produces abundant fruit, and forms dense stands and quickly crowds out other plants. It has no natural enemies in our isolated island environments. It grows in thick clumps on all of the major islands. Both the waiawi 'ula'ula (red strawberry guava) and the yellow-fruited waiawi have become naturalized throughout the islands.
Botanically, guava is classified as a berry and varies widely in form, color, size, sweetness and seed content. The fruit is oval or round and one to four inches in diameter. The edible skin is yellow-green and occasionally, almost white or red. The flesh is white, light yellow or p ink and some types of guava even have red or orange flesh. The small, hard white seeds are held in the center of the fruit by a jelly-like pulp. Many guavas have excessive seeds, but some, like the Beaumont, have few. Generations of Islanders have experimented with the fruit for its juice, nectar, jams and jellies and in combination with other fruits.
Guava ranks first in fruit production on Kauai and follows pineapple, papaya and banana in fruit production value statewide. Kilaue'a, Kauai, the "guava capital of the World," has Beaumont guava orchards in commercial cultivation. These plants are from one seedling found in 1960 in Halemano, O'ahu. The plant was named for John B. Beaumont, a horticulturist and the director of the University of Hawai'i Agricultural Department.
Today, these fruits produce five to six ounces of juice per fruit, in contrast to the two or three ounces from the wild varieties. The large and luscious Beaumont, although not sweet, has pulp that is a gorgeous strawberry ice cream pink. During harvest these trees may require picking 35 times because the fruit does not ripen uniformly.
People who grew up in the islands often remember the small-kid-time rotten guava fights during guava season picking. Old-timers still recommend chewing guava leaf buds to help mitigate bouts of diarrhea.
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| Arts & Culture
The Old Shopping Center
The old Kahului Shopping Center sits on Kaahumanu Avenue under the shade of established old monkeypod trees, drowsing away, dreaming of the days when its developers called it "the earliest integrated shopping facility west of the Mississippi." (It wasn't really. That honor actually belongs to the Aloha Shopping Center, which opened in 1947 in Waipahu on Oahu.) Many of the old stores, which became Maui institutions, are closed now and the newer Maui Mall Shopping Center and Queen Kaahumanu Shopping Center are the modern mall-crawler favorites.
The Center opened in 1951, not long after the first homes went up in A & B's new "Dream City." In the first phase A&B Super Market and Sears Roebuck were the anchor stores. Crafts Drugs and the Ben Franklin Store were also major attractions. Opening day for the brand-new center featured a fashion show and entertainment staged on the roof of Craft's Drugs.
When the new addition opened in 1955, more than half the island attended the festivities. (We have a tradition, it seems, of celebrating openings of shopping centers that started way before the advent of K-Mart, Costco and the Maui Marketplace.) Long-time firms, T. Ah Fook's Market and Toda Drugs, were installed in the new combination grocery and drug store building.
Long-time residents still remember the fountain at Toda Drug, where you could stop for a sundae after shopping for school or work clothes at Peggy's and Johnny's or groceries at Ah Fook's Super Market (one of the last of the old stores still operating at the center.) Noda's Market had the best fish. Sue's Stationery was the place for office supplies. There was that old open-air restaurant, Hal's, in the heart of the center and on the Wailuku side of the complex, you could stop at PortTown Deli for ono local grinds. And after Ben Franklin moved to the new center, there was still Maui Garden and Hardware with its large variety of plants, and gardening and craft supplies.
The buildings are funky now. The trees are old, as are the regulars who sit around talking story about days gone by on the benches and at the tables in the central courtyard where the small stage is still sometimes taken over by hula halau doing their dances...just like the old days.
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Windsurfer Park