2 papaya trees, 2 types of leaves

"one often sees papaya plants growing around a house in the tropics. this may be because the papaya is an important, regular fruit in the diet, but it is also often necessary because papaya is usually dioecious, so that at least one male and one female plant are required for fruits to be produced.

there are, however, cultivars that are monoecious (separate male and female flowers on the same plant), and the popular cultivar solo has perfect flowers (each flower on a plant has both stamens and a pistil).

male flowers are small and borne in long clusters, whereas one to several female flowers are produced on a short stalk in the axil of each leaf. typically only one female flower per leaf develops into a fruit; the trunk is thereby so covered with fruits that one can barely see the stem.

the oldest, mature fruit is the lowest one, and the youngest the uppermost one. therefore, once a plant starts to produce, there is a continuous supply of fruits. "