Papaya: Known You No. 1
(Carica papaya)

Papaya is not actually a tree, but a large herbaceous perennial that can grow to 10 m in height. The fruits are born in clusters just below the point where the leaves emerge from the upper part of the stem. The fruits can be up to 50 cm long and 20 cm wide and have a thick, yellow to orange flesh that is typically eaten fresh when mature. To avoid sending out seeds resulting in unproductive male trees, ECHO purchases, from professional seed producers, seeds of varieties known to produce female or bisexual trees with the majority of trees being bisexual.

An F1 hybrid variety from Taiwan which has very large fruits, up to 3 kg, with yellow flesh. Tolerant to papaya ring spot virus (PRSV) and produces a 50/50 ratio of hermaphrodite to female plants.