Bark
The trunk remains somewhat succulent and soft wooded, and never develops true bark. It is ringed with prominent scars from previous leaf stems and contains an acrid milky latex sap.
Carica papaya
Syn. Papaya peltata
IUCN Red List
Data Deficient
(DD)
Local name
- Melon tree (English)
- Papita (Hindi)
- Erand karkati (Sanskrit)
Tree type
Evergreen
Deciduous
Family: Caricaceae
6m
Indicated uses
Medicinal
Edible
Ornamental
Avenue
Other
Flowering & fruiting
Flowering
Fruiting
Key characters
Leaves
Leaves drooping proximally, erect or spreading distally; petiole 35-70 cm, hollow; 20-60 cm diam., shallowly to deeply palmately 5-9-lobed, lobes lanceolate to ovate, margins entire or pinnately divided into lanceolate to ovate lobes.
Flower
The five-petal flowers are fleshy, waxy and fragrant. Some papaya bear only short stalked female flower or bisexual flowers, while others may bear only male flowers, clustered on panicles 150-180 cm long.
Fruit / Seeds
The smooth-skinned fruits are green, yellow, orange or rose colored, and typically weigh about 0.5 kg. They hang on short stalks in clusters directly from the trunk beneath the umbrella of giant leaves.
Did you know?
Carica papaya means ‘fig-like papaya’, a name inspired by its fig-like leaves, even though it is not related to fig trees.
Distribution
South Mexico to Venezuela.