Papaya trees come in one of three sexual forms: male, female and hermaphrodite and the photo above is of a male flowering papaya.
The Papaya tree or Paw Paw is found growing wild throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands and we have several here at Harbour Club. Presently, Barry and I are juicing these wild papayas almost every day as we have so many that are ready to eat right now.
Male flowers are formed in clusters and grow on a branched drooping stalk
Male Papaya flowers have no ovaries and therefore do not produce any fruit. Female flowers have an ovary and are borne on the stem of the plant where the leaf is attached.
Beautiful yellow flowers of the female gender have five petals and are rather waxy looking.
Some papaya bear only short stalked female flowers while others bear male clusters of flowers and pollination is done by the wind.
The bright yellow petals start to wilt and turn brown as the fruit starts growing
A small papaya fruit appears and starts to grow
The ovary of a female Papaya plant must receive pollen from either a male or hermaphrodite plant before it can be fertilized and produce a fruit bearing viable seeds. Insects and or the wind will carry the pollen.
A small baby papaya starts to grow as the yellow petals die off.
Harbour Club's papaya trees are loaded with small fruits ready to be picked.
Papaya trees can grow from 6 to 20 feet tall and have a head of foliage much like a palm tree up at the top. The trunk is soft wooded, never developes a bark and is ringed with scars from previous leaf stems that have dropped off.
Tall papaya trees reaching to the skies laden with fruits
Wild papaya fruits aren’t really that large but they are favoured by the birds so long as Barry doesn’t get to them first. They are delicious served up as a smoothie or eaten with lots of fresh lime juice.
If you throw out these seeds they'll be sure to grow more trees.
Papain from the papaya is used by the locals and applied topically for the treatment of cuts, rashes, stings and burns. It is said that Christopher Columbus named the papaya or paw–paw, ‘the fruit of the angels’. Try some papaya with fresh lime juice for a tasty treat…….it is ripe and soft and has a sweet and delightfully vibrant orange flesh much like the consistency of a peach.
Marta