Papaya Blossom

The plant

The papaya is the plant species Carica papaya, in the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and Central America. It is a very large herbaceous plant that grows up to 8 to 10 m tall. Spaniards introduced it to the Old World in the 16th century, and its cultivation is now nearly pantropical. The leaves are large, 50 to 70 cm across, deeply palmately lobed with seven lobes, and all parts of the plant contain latex.

The flowers

The flowers are five-parted and highly dimorphic. The male flowers grow in long racemes, the female ones in small clusters or sometimes alone. Male and female flowers are borne in the leaf axils. They open at night and are wind- or insect-pollinated. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, fragrant, and yellow to white. In the male flowers the stamens are fused to the petals. The female flowers have a superior ovary and five contorted petals loosely connected at the base. The pollen grains are elongated and about 35 microns long.

Genus and name

Carica is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caricaceae. The genus once held about 20 to 25 species, but most of the others have since been moved to the genus Vasconcellea, a few to Jacaratia and Jarilla. The genus name comes from the botanical name of the fig, Ficus carica, because the leaves or fruits of the species resemble those of the fig.

Fruit, cultivation and uses

The fruit is a large berry about 15 to 45 cm long, ripe when soft and amber to orange in skin. In 2024 world production of papayas was about 15 million tonnes, with India supplying 36% of the total. The enzyme papain, extracted from the milky sap of young papaya, is used as a meat tenderizer and in chewing gum production.

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