Carica papaya L.

vernacular papaya — species · Caricaceae

USDA: CAPA23
GBIF: 2874484
Rank: species

papaya (Carica papaya) — Platephotograph · Hector Miranda source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Caricaceae Dumort.
Genus: Carica

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Introduced
PR Puerto Rico Introduced
VI U.S. Virgin Islands Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 16 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 16 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: High
Moisture use: High
Fire: None
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 32 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 60–80 in/yr
pH range: 5–8
Root depth: 40 in min.
Fertility need: High
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 20 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: White-Gray
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Dense
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Orange
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Indeterminate
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Year Round
Seed ends: Year Round
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 8,000
Propagation: seed, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 16 counties across 1 state.

Florida view state ↗ 16 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CAPA23 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2874484 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T08:39:52Z