The papaya, is the fruit of the tree Carica papaya, in the genus Carica. It is native to the tropics of the Americas, and was cultivated in Mexico several centuries before the flourishment of the Mesoamerican classic cultures. The original name of the fruit in Nahuatl was chichihualtzapotl, that means "wet-nurse fruit", and it was very connected to fertility concepts.
Nowadays, the papaya is also known as fruta bomba, lechosa (Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic), mamão, papaw (Sri Lankan English), Papol \ Guslabu (Tree melon) in Sinhalese ), pawpaw or tree melon
It is a small tree, the single stem growing from 5 to 10 m tall, with spirally set leaves confined to the top of the trunk; the lower trunk is noticeably scarred with scars of where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, 50-70 cm diameter, deeply palmately lobed with 7 lobes. The tree is typically unbranched if unlopped. The flowers are similar in shape to the flowers of the Plumeria but are much smaller and wax like. They appear on the axils of the leaves, maturing into the large 15-45 cm long, 10-30 cm diameter fruit. The fruit is ripe when it feels soft (like a ripe avocado or a bit softer) and its skin has attained an amber to orange hue.

0