Carica papaya (Papaya)

Description:The corica papaya plant has a 6-20 ft (1.8-6.2 m) tall, erect, branchless trunk and a palm-like head of foliage. The corica papaya tree is always a little succulent and light wooded and rarely fully grows bark. It is covered by notable scars from earlier leaf stems and produces milky latex sap. The papaya leaves are incised and lobed deeply, up to 24 inches (61 cm) in length and borne on 24 inch (61 cm) pétioles. The smooth skin of fruit  is marked with green, yellow, orange or rose and can bear up to 20 pounds (9.1 kg), but usually is around one pound (0.5 kg). Corica papaya hang directly from the trunk under the canopy of giant leaves on small stalks in clusters. Papayas flower and fruit all year long concurrently. Hermaphrodite papaya cultivars have usually been grown in the wild. The most popular Papaya types are Solo cultivars or Hawaiian papaya, which are monoecious cultivars of just 6-8 ft (1.8-2.4 m) in length, yielding small single serving fruits. On much larger plants Mexican papaya grow fruits weighing up to 10 lbs (4.5 kg).