''Psidium friedrichsthalianum'', the Costa Rican guava or cas, is a species of

guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the ...

found mostly in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

but also grown in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

and other

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

n countries. It can be found in Nicaragua as "guava juice" or "fresco de guava". This fruit is commonly used to prepare a sour and refreshing drink. It has been successfully grown in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

now and can be grown from seed in mild higher regions. It is used as the base for ''fresco de Cas'', in which Costa Ricans mix it with sugar and water and sometimes add cream for a slightly acidic fruit drink. The cas fruit was described by

Otto Karl Berg Otto Karl Berg (15 August 1815 in Stettin – 20 November 1866 in Berlin) was a German botanist and pharmacist. The official abbreviation of his name, in botany, is O. Berg. He was the son of Johann Friedrich and Wilhelmine Friederike Ber ...

in 1893.

References

{{Authority control Crops originating from the Americas friedrichsthalianum Tropical fruit Flora of Central America