| | Family guide for fruits and seeds |
Synonyms: Papayaceae Blume, nom. illeg.
Common name: Papaya Family.
Number of genera 4. Number of species 31.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; pepo (Carica papaya L., Spjut Fig. 39B-C & 4 families: Caricaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Musaceae, Passifloraceae); without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); many-seeded; many; 5-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; in transection terete; apex not beaked; wall fleshy; indehiscent. Epicarp durable; without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent (Corner: "occasionally head of funiculus enlarged and fleshy as a short" funicular aril in Carica papaya L. & Goldberg: "arillate". Both refer (we think) to the gelatinous coat (from fruit) around seed. Not an aril). Seed embedded in pulpy endocarp tissue (thick & gelatinous); larger than minute; 5 to less than 10 mm long; 5–6 mm long (at least); in transection compressed; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta present, or absent; fleshy. Testa present; with fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer, or without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; surface unsmooth, or smooth; surface with depressed features, or discreet raised features; surface pitted; surface verrucose, or warted; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; without glands; without bristles; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; black; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm development nuclear (becoming cellular); moderate, or copious; fleshy-soft; smooth; with hemicellulose and oils; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons to investing cotyledons (barely investing); straight (embryo spirally twisted); parallel to seed length; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; with cotyledons containing oils; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.6–0.7 times length of embryo; 4.5 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
New World, Old World (tropical for Cylicomorpha). Middle America, South America, Africa (tropical for Cylicomorpha).
Notes
Cronquist: for Punica [now in Lythraceae] - Fleshy coated seeds also occur in Cyclomorpha with a superior ovary. Corner: "Seeds medium-size, with a thick gelatinous pellicle round the tough spongy, hygroscopic, often verrucose or subreticulate, exarillate (occasionally a funicular aril in Carica).
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ISTA listed seeds.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Carica candamarcensis Hook. f. = Carica pubescens Lenne & Koch -- Carica papaya L. -- Carica pubescens Lenne & Koch -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Carica L. -- Cylicomorpha Urb. -- Jacaratia A. DC. -- Jarilla Rusby
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 417.
General references
Baillon, H.E. 1866–95. Histoire des plantes, 13 vols. Hachette and Co., Paris, Corner, E.J.H. 1976. The seeds of Dicots, esp. vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, New York, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Dahlgren, R.M.T., H.T. Clifford and P.F. Yeo. 1985. The families of the monocotyledons, 520 pp. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Martin, A.C. 1946. The comparative internal morphology of seeds. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 36:513–660, Roosmalen, M.G.M. van. 1985. Fruits of the Guianan flora, 483 pp. Institute of Systematic Botany, Wageningen Agricultural University. Drukkerij Veenman B.V., Wageningen, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Gaertner, Roosmalen. Seed illustration(s): Baillon. Embryo illustration(s): Martin, Baillon.
• Seed. 1 of 2. Carica papaya L.: seed. • Embryo. 2 of 2. Carica papaya L.: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
