Volume 9 > Part 2 > Year 2008 > Page 95 > Caricaceae > Carica

Carica papaya L.wfo-0000588009

Sp. Pl.: 1036. 1753; Masters in Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 2: 599. 1879; Backer & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 1: 314. 1963; Dassanayake in Fl. Ceylon 10: 52. 1996. Fig. 1.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Tree, 3–4 m high; stem usually unbranched, with large prominent leaf-scars; wood soft and succulent. Leaves ovate or orbicular in outline, up to ca 75 cm long and broad, deeply palmately divided into 3–7 lobes, lobes pinnatifid, with toothed margin, lobe-apex acute to acuminate; petiole 40–100 cm long, 1–3 cm in diam. Flowers fragrant. Staminate flowers in panicles, up to 40(–100) cm long, pendulous; sessile, 3–6 by 1.5–2 cm; calyx ca 2 mm long, 5-lobed, acute; corolla creamy yellow, tube 2.5–3(–6) cm long, lobes 5, twisted in bud, ca 1 by 1.5 cm; filaments ca 1.5 mm long; anthers 1.5–2 mm long, papillose, 2-celled, basifixed, dehiscing longitudinally. Pistillate flowers in few-flowered inflorescences or solitary with a staminate flower on either sides; peduncle 1-2 cm long; bracts fleshy, leaf-like, 1–2 cm long, caducous; calyx lobes oblong, 5–8 mm long, acute, green and fleshy; petals lanceolate, 5–6.5 by 0.8–1.5 cm, obtuse; ovary 3.5–4 by 1.5–1.8 cm; stigma lobes fimbriate, ca 6 mm long. Fruit ellipsoid, cylindrical, narrowly obovoid or pyriform, 20–30 by 8–15 cm, yellow or orange when maturity; thick yellow, orange or red pulp. Seeds ellipsoid, ca 2 mm in diam., black, wrinkled.

Thailand : Widely cultivated throughout the country.

Distribution : Native to Tropical America, cultivated all over the tropics and subtropics.

Ecology : Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

Vernacular : Ma kuai thet (มะก้วยเทศ)(Northern); sa-kui-se (สะกุยเส่)(Karen-Mae Hong Son); mak hung (หมักหุ่ง)(Loei, Nakhon Phanom); mak-sang-pho (หมากซางพอ)(Shan-Mae Hong Son); malako (มะละกอ)(Central); taeng ton (แตงต้น)(Satun); kuai la (ก้วยลา)(Yala); loko (ลอกอ)(Peninsular); ma-te (มะเต๊ะ)(Malay-Pattani).

CommonName : Papaya, Pawpaw, Tree melon.

Uses: Ripe fruit when eaten raw, is stomachic, digestive and carminative. The milky sap of unripe fruit contains papain which has a wide range of medicinal application. It is also used in tenderizing meat. The seeds are used to quench thirst and as vermifuge.