Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

174. Lechosa, papaya
PAPAYA FAMILY
Papaya, a familiar small tree with distinctive
pun ent odor, is widely grown for its delicious
edib f e fruits and also is naturalized. It is easily
recognized by: (1) usually unbranched, soft, succulent
trunk with thin milky sap, bearing a clustar
of alternate spreading laves at apex ; (2) large
long-petioled leaves with palmately 7- or 0-lobed
blades, deeply cut into smaller long- or shortpointed
lobes ; (3) male and female flowers whitish
or pale yellow, on different plants (dioecious) , the
narrow tubular male flowers 1-1% inches long and
numerous in branched clusters, and the larger female
flowers about 2 inches long, with 5 spreading
petals and borne nearly stalkless, single or a few
together at base of a leaf; and (4) fruit clustered
around the trunk, usually 6-15 inches long, oblong,
obovoid, or rounded, and short-pointed.
A rapidly growing short-lived evergreen shrub
or tree to 20 feet tall, with trunk usuall~ less than
8 inches in diameter (rarely to 24 feet high and 16
inches in diameter) and with a narrow crown.
The bark is greenish or grayish brown to light
ray, smooth, with prominent broad to near1
forizontal leaf scars. The greenish or yellowis f 1
inner bark has a spicy or slightly bitter taste. Because
of the soft almost herbaceous stem and short
life of a few years, this species is also regarded as
a giant perennial herb rather than a tree.
Upper leaves are erect spreading and lower
leaves drooping. The stout green petioles are
16-24 inches or more in length, round and hollow.
Leaf blades are rounded in outline, 8-24 inches in
diameter, slightly thickened and fleshy, dull light
green above and beneath pale whitish green and
covered with a bloom.
The slender lateral cluster ( anicle) of many
es long or longer.
A male flower has short 5-toothed calyx about I/ls
inch long; whitish corolla of narrow funnelshaped
tube about inches long and 5 widely
spreading narrow oblong lobes more than 1/2 inch
long and extending 1 inch or more across; 10 yellowish
stamens inserted in throat of corolla tube,
5 stalkless and 5 short-stalked ; and rudimentary
narrow pistil about s/s inch long. The shortstalked
female flowers have 5-toothed green calyx
inch long, 5 twisted narrow lance-shaped
fleshy pale ellow petals about 2 inches long, soon
falling; an a pale yellow pistil s/,lx inches long
with large elliptic or round ovary, 1-celled with 5
ridges covered with ovules, and 5 spreading stalkless
much-lobed stigmas. Rarely perfect flowers
with both stamens and a pistil are produced
(polygamous).
Several to many short-stalked fruits (berries)
hang down from the trunk of a female tree near
its summit, turning from green to orange at maturity.
The soft orange flesh 1-2 inches thick with
fragrant male flowers is 6-24 inc 1
(CARICACEAE*)
Carica papaya L.*
milky juice surrounds a lar e central cavity containing
many rounded blac ish seeds about s/16
inch in diameter, which are enclosed in a gelatinous
membrane (aril). There are about 8,000
seeds to a pound. In flower and fruit probably
through the year.
The whitish or pale yellow wood is very soft,
very lightweight, and fleshy. There is a large
white pith, and the center of the trunk is hollow
except at nodes. The wood is not used.
Papaya is one of the most popular tropical
fruits. Races differ in size and shape of fruit.
Like large melons, giant papayas may reach 18
inches in length and weigh as much as 20 pounds,
while the fruits of wild plants often are small,
sometimes only 3 inches long, and bitter flavored.
This esteemed melonlike fruit is served at the
breakfast table or as a dessert, often flavored with
juice of limes, but it is also made into preserves
and sherbets. The juice is also extracted and
canned. Green papayas can be cooked as a vegetable
like squash.
The milky latex or juice of the fruit, leaves, and
other parts of the plant contains the enzyme
papain (papaina) which, like pepsin, digests proteins
and curdles milk. Thus, papayas when eaten
aid in di estion of other foods. Tough meat is
made ten 8 er by wrapping it in papaya leaves for
a few hours, by washing in water containing the
juice, or by rubbing the juice on. Or the leaves
can be boiled with the meat, but if the time is too
lon or the juice too concentrated, the meat may
fa1 f apart in shreds. Though the tenderizing property
of papaya leaves has long been common
knowledge of tropical residents and known also to
botnnists, only in recent years have meat tenderizers
prepared from this plant become available
commercially.
Other applications of this enzyme are medicinally
to aid digestion in cases of dyspepsia and for
clarifying beer. In some areas the seeds, juice,
flowers, and leaves have served in home remedies.
Also the leaves have been stewed as greens. The
male flowers may be a source of honey. It is reported
that the leaves have been employed in place
of soa for washing delicate fabrics. Children
make f! utes from the hollow petioles.
Many races vary in size and. quality of fruit.
The plants are also attractive ornamentals.
Through the tropics they grow almost as weeds,
bearing fruit the first year from seed and s reading
along roadsides and in waste places. %]ants
are being heavily affected by diseases, especially
viruses.
Widel cultivated, esca ing, and naturalized in
Puerto H ico. Also on a% ona, Vieques, St. Croix,
St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola.
Ra~o~.-Native in tropical America, the origi-
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