Carica lanceolata - Papaya of bolivia, papaya honey bee, papaya papaya leaf of spear Seeds

Description

An extremely rare and wild papaya, the fruits ripen to yellow and orange. This species is sometimes mistakenly included as carica quercifolia.

A small tree with a thick, swollen trunk, soft wood, narrow, coriaceous leaves with a prominent yellowish midrib and yellow flowers followed by small, pear-shaped striped fruits that ripen to yellow and orange.

It has some similarities with carica quercifolia and is considered synonymous by some, but its fruits are rounded instead of sharp and lobed leaves very narrow and lanceolate, and not broad (looking like oak leaves) like carica quercifolia.

Carica lanceolata is native to the dry forest in the Andes, between 800 and 3,000 meters in altitude and probably has some tolerance for slight frost.

Very rare in cultivation and very limited supply of seeds for this variety.