img

Carica papaya

L. (1753)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Rosids Order: Brassicales Family: Caricaceae Genus: Carica

hē‘ī, hē‘ï [hei], mīkana, milikani, papaya, pawpaw

img

Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Trees up to 8 metres (26 feet) tall.

Stems: Stems soft-wooded, usually unbranched with a leafy apex.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades 1.5–6 dm wide, nearly as long, palmately 5–9 lobed, the principal lobes pinnately lobed. Surfaces glabrous. Margins incised and lobed. Palmately veined. Petioles usually 3–10 dm long. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in staminate flowers numerous, pendulous, in long–pedunculate, branched cymes; pistillate flowers 1–3 in short–pedunculate clusters; perfect flowers similar to pistillate ones but in slightly more delicate clusters. bracts small or absent. Flowers unisexual or bisexual (perfect) and the plants dioecious or bisexual (perfect), actinomorphic. Calyx of staminate flowers with 3–5 lobes; lobes deltate, 1–1.5 mm long. Calyx of pistillate flowers with lobes deltate, 5–10 mm long. Corolla of staminate flowers creamy white, fleshy, the tube 1.5–2 cm long, the lobes lanceolate to oblong, 1–1.5 cm long, spreading; Corolla of pistillate flowers creamy white, fleshy, campanulate, divided nearly to base, the lobes lanceolate, ± falcate, 5–7 cm long, reflexed; both corolla slender, tubular, the tube very short in pistillate flowers, corolla tubular. Bisexual flowers: corolla tube 1.9-2.5 cm, lobes oblong, ca. 2.8 × 0.9 cm. Stamens 5 or 10 in 1 or 2 whorls; Stamens absent in pistillate flowers; anthers dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary superior (pistilate flowers), 5-carpellate, 1-celled, ovoid, ca. 3 cm long; placentation parietal; ovules numerous, anatropous; stigmas 5, ca. 1 cm long, irregularly branched; in perfect flowers the ovary is smaller than in female flowers. Staminate flowers ovary vestigial, ca. 1 mm long.

Fruit: Fruit yellow; orange; or red; ± streaked with green at maturity; extremely variable in size and shape; 5–50 cm long; ca. 20 cm wide; pericarp yellow or orange; sweet and juicy. Seeds numerous; ovoid; arillate; Seeds with soft; fleshy endosperm.

Ploidy: 2n = 18; 36

Habitat: Cultivated and persisting at old homesites; sparingly naturalized in low elevation; dry to mesic areas.

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

img

Uses and Culture

USES

  • Yes

Ethnobotanical Images

img

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Kaua'i Naturalized
O'ahu Naturalized
Molokai Naturalized
Lana'i Naturalized
Maui Naturalized
Hawai'i Naturalized

Dispersal Agents

Birds

Pollinators

Notes

  • According to Hillebrand (1888), the papaya was introduced very early after contact by western man, and naturalized prior to 1871.
  • Description digitized by Mercedez
  • Description digitized from the Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii
  • sparingly naturalized in low elevation, dry to mesic areas on Kaua'i, Moloka'i, and Hawai'i, and probably also on some of the other

Bibliography

Name Published In: Sp. Pl.: 1036 (1753)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:497 (K, Mo, H); Oppenheimer & Bartlett 2000:3 (EM, WM); Staples & Herbst 2005:223 (DESCR); Oppenheimer 2010:34 (L); Oppenheimer 2011:6 (O)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Carica papaya Windward side of island, Anapuhi to Wainene long coastal boulder-strewn beach with vertical cliff at back 10-30 m from water. Cliff with Artemisia australis, Chenopodium oahuense, Schiedea globosa, Kalanchoe pinnata, Tetramolopium sylvae, Lythrum maritimum, and Hedyotis littoralis, among others Preserved_Specimen Wagner, W.L. 5752 Molokai BISH 1987-08-01
2 Carica papaya Windward side of island, Anapuhi to Wainene long coastal boulder-strewn beach with vertical cliff at back 10-30 m from water. Cliff with Artemisia australis, Chenopodium oahuense, Schiedea globosa, Kalanchoe pinnata, Tetramolopium sylvae, Lythrum maritimum, and Hedyotis littoralis, among others Preserved_Specimen Wagner, W.L. 5752 Molokai BISH 1987-08-01
3 Carica papaya W Maui, Lahaina District, Honokahua Valley Growing on E side of streambed on a steep slope, some plants on nearly vertical rock faces. Preserved_Specimen Oppenheimer, H.L. 59918 Maui BISH 1999-05-21
4 Carica papaya Maunalei Gulch, gulch bottom; Aleurites forest Preserved_Specimen Oppenheimer, H.L. 50811 Lanai BISH 2008-05-29
5 Carica papaya Na Aina Kai Gardens, Kilauea. Cultivated. Preserved_Specimen Umehara, M. Kauai BISH 2004-06-18
6 Carica papaya East Maui, Hana District, Kauiki, E side of Hana Bay, Behind Community building along service road Dominated by Casuarina planted in the late 1930's but with numerous other alien species (Terminalia, Syzygium, Ardisia) Preserved_Specimen Flynn, T.W. 2517 Maui BISH 1987-10-21
7 Carica papaya Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park along coastal and inland trail; predominantly exotic vegetation. Area high modified by ancient Polynesians Preserved_Specimen Higashino, P.K. 10226 Hawaii BISH 1984-04-07
8 Carica papaya Niulii escapee, growing in Casuarina-Pandanus grove near the sea Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 935 Hawaii BISH 1968-02-19
9 Carica papaya Grounds of the Bishop Museum, between big banyan tree at the back of campus and the YMCA property weedy area Preserved_Specimen Evans, M. 5 Oahu BISH 1990-06-20
10 Carica papaya Kawailoa, Haleiwa sandy loam Preserved_Specimen Afualo, D. 26 Oahu BISH 1975-03-04
11 Carica papaya Koloa, Lawai Valley, National Tropical Botanical Garden; Big Valley Preserved_Specimen Flynn, T.W. 4587 Kauai BISH 1991-05-03
12 Carica papaya Waimanalo Research Station full sun Preserved_Specimen Lau, J. 1784 Oahu BISH 1985-12-30
13 Carica papaya lower part of Halepuaa Forest Reserve in the Puna District The forest reserve is surrounded by Papaya fields and some plants have escaped in to the reserve. Preserved_Specimen Clarke, G. 79.258 Hawaii BISH 1979-05-05
14 Carica papaya Kalaupapa; Bayview and Quonset Preserved_Specimen Wysong, M.L. 788 Molokai BISH 2005-08-12
15 Carica papaya Waialua District, Kauwalu Gulch. From nearby cultivated plants into waste areas. Preserved_Specimen Oppenheimer, H.L. 70915 Oahu BISH 2009-07-22
16 Carica papaya Niulii escapee, growing in Casuarina-Pandanus grove near the sea Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 935 Hawaii BISH 1968-02-19
17 Carica papaya lower part of Halepuaa Forest Reserve in the Puna District Preserved_Specimen Clarke, G. 79.259 Hawaii BISH 1979-05-05
18 Carica papaya Kawainui Marsh, below Castle Hospital Preserved_Specimen Smith, L.B. 86 Oahu BISH 1976-03-27
19 Carica papaya Honolulu, Old Naval Station Preserved_Specimen Garber, D.W. 25 Oahu BISH 1919-10-31
20 Carica papaya Mokuleia Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 27799 Oahu BISH 1961-07-30
21 Carica papaya Mokuleia Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 28149 Oahu BISH 1962-11-25
22 Carica papaya Honolulu, Kamehameha Girl's School Preserved_Specimen Rankin, P. Oahu BISH 1938-12-12
23 Carica papaya Laie, BYU-HC Preserved_Specimen Vea, S. 10465 Oahu BISH 1977-04-06
24 Carica papaya Honolulu Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 10856 Oahu BISH 1935-01-01
25 Carica papaya Honolulu, Old Naval Station Preserved_Specimen Garber, D.W. 25 Oahu BISH 1919-10-31
26 Carica papaya Honolulu Preserved_Specimen Bryan Jr., E.H. Oahu BISH 1933-03-01
27 Carica papaya unknown Preserved_Specimen Mann, H. BISH 1864-01-01
28 Carica papaya unknown Preserved_Specimen Mann, H. BISH 1864-01-01
29 Carica papaya O'ahu HUMAN_OBSERVATION 1627511128 Oahu HAPI 11/20/2011
30 Carica papaya unknown Preserved_Specimen BISH
31 Carica papaya [near Hilo, ]Waiakea Homesteads HUMAN_OBSERVATION Friday, J.B. Hawaii 2/12/2020
32 Carica papaya Honolulu Preserved_Specimen Stokes, J.F.G. Oahu BISH 1918-10-18
Back to Top