As a resident of the Puna area, I've picked some of my most favorite places to share with geocachers! I feel these each have a unique landscape or exceptional surroundings to make them a "MUST SEE" in my neck of the woods! Please enjoy the area and let me know if I can answer anything for you!!
The papaya (from Carib via Spanish), papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae. It is native to the tropics of the Americas, and was first cultivated in Mexico[1] several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classical civilizations.1
The papaya is a large tree-like plant, with a single stem growing from 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 ft) tall, with spirally arranged leaves confined to the top of the trunk. The lower trunk is conspicuously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, 50û70 centimetres (20û28 in) diameter, deeply palmately lobed with 7 lobes. The tree is usually unbranched, unless lopped. 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 15û45 centimetres (5.9û18 in) long, 10û30 centimetres (3.9û12 in) diameter fruit. The fruit is ripe when it feels soft (as soft as a ripe avocado or a bit softer) and its skin has attained an amber to orange hue.1
Two kinds of papayas are commonly grown. One has sweet, red (or orangish) flesh, and the other has yellow flesh; in Australia these are called "red papaya" and "yellow papaw", respectively. Either kind, picked green, is called a "green papaya." The large-fruited, red-fleshed 'Maradol', 'Sunrise', and 'Caribbean Red' papayas often sold in U.S. markets are commonly grown in Mexico and Belize. 'SunUp' and 'Rainbow' are genetically modified cultivars developed in Hawaii that are resistant to the papaya ringspot virus.1
You will also see "Strawberry" papaya in Hawaii, though I'm not sure what is different about this variety. The sweetest one (to me anyway) is the strawberry papaya. The best way to serve Papaya is with lime juice. Somehow the lime juice tones down the taste of papaya making it very deliscious!
Please respect the farmers and do not pick their fruit!! This is a nano and a BYOP (bring your own pen)!!
Counter Added 7/1/2012 |
1áWikipedia Web Site