The Curious Case of the Papaya Tree: Flowers, Sex, and Less Popular Relatives

A curious fact: the papaya tree can be classified as male, female, or hermaphroditic, according to its flowers. The flowers of the male plant are in pendulous inflorescences and have stamens where pollen is produced. Male plants do not bear fruit. Female plants produce isolated flowers that grow directly from the stem and have pistils, structures that hold the ovules which, after being fertilized by pollen from male or hermaphroditic plants, become seeds, and the ovary develops into fruit.

Species of Jacaratia, another genus of the Caricaceae family, were also illustrated in Flora Brasiliensis.

The genus Jacaratia stands out for its tasty fruits. The jaracatiá, its popular name, is originally from Tupi-Guarani – iaracatia – which means “tree similar to the papaya tree”. For example, the species Jacaratia spinosa is widely distributed in forest areas in Brazil. Its fruits are golden yellow when ripe, with latex. Its pulp has a sweet taste, varies in color from red to orange, is juicy, edible, and has numerous seeds.

Another lesser-known species is the “mamãozinho-de-veado” (Jacaratia corumbensis), so named because it is consumed by deer (“veado”); it occurs in the Caatinga, a biome of semi-arid vegetation dominant in northeastern Brazil. This species has a kind of potato that stores water. Different literatures describe the use of the potato to make homemade sweets used to feed rural families – an important nutritional source mainly during the dry periods of northeastern Brazil.