Jacaratia, Wild Papaya

I am starting some seedlings of this tree here in South Florida, and will give updates along the way as they progress. I am interested in...Read More hearing more about the edibility of the fruit. I received the seeds from a collector in Brazil, who lives near Rio.

Tree native from tropical America, from Uruguay to Mexico, it´s related to Papaya, even though there are some blatant differences. Jacar...Read Moreatia reaches up to 20 tall, and branches a lot, unlike Papaya trees, for example.

The bark is covered with spines, and has a white sap that may be toxic if ingested. The leaves are palmate, shiny, dark green, with long petioles. The flowers are greenish, small, appearing near the branches. The fruits are long, and look like Papaya at first sight, but smalled. They are long and yellow. The pulp is kinda gelatinous around the seeds, and has a distinct taste. Exagerated ingestion is not recomended, since the fruit (specially unripe ones) still has some of that toxic sap (nothing to be scared, though, just don´t eat a truck loaded of it, ok?). From this fruit people make jams, but I never came across any of it.

This tree lives on almost any kind of fertile soil (specially alcalyne ones), and likes full sun, regular watering and high temperatures. It seems to tolerate ocasional frosts. A recomended plant, since it´s not being cultivated very much and is starting to become rare in South America, even though it does have edible fruits.