FRUITS AND NUTS 119 



tinctly pentagonal. The fruit of Carica erythrocarpa is similar 

 to that of the common papaya but has a red flesh and an ex- 

 tremely thin rind. This species has sometimes been considered 

 as particularly useful in the production of papain. The fruit 

 of C. candamarcensis is about the size of a baseball, rich yel- 

 low in color, and five-angled. The flavor is not particularly 

 meritorious. The leaves of this species are cordate, palmately 

 five-lobed, and smaller than in the common papaya. C. querci- 

 folia is a curious branched, small-fruited papaya with oak-like 

 leaves and clusters of ellipsoid yellow fruit I or 2 inches in 

 length. 



The papaya is commonly propagated by seed but does not 

 come true. The variation in the size, shape, and flavor of 

 papayas is therefore without end or restraint. It has recently 

 been found that the papaya may be readily grafted. This fur- 

 nishes a method of propagating varieties of superior merit. 

 After a tree has come to bearing and has shown a desirable 

 flavor and size of fruit the tree may be beheaded, after which 

 a large number of shoots will appear near the tip of the trunk. 

 These shoots may be grafted by the ordinary wedge process 

 into the trunks of small seedlings about I inch in diameter. 

 No difficulty is experienced in propagating by this method. 



Another method of establishing a desirable type of papaya 

 has been for some time under investigation at the Hawaii 

 Experiment Station. This method is based on an attempt to 

 eliminate the male papaya and to secure a type which will 

 produce only hermaphrodite plants. It should be remembered 

 that the papaya is normally a diecious tree and that about half 

 of the trees are male and half female. The conditions which 

 appear in the reproductive organ of the papaya, however, are 

 extremely variable. For the most part the flowers on the male 

 trees are small and borne in long branching panicles 2 to 5 

 feet in length. The flowers on the female trees, on the other 

 hand, are large and nearly sessile along the side of the trunk in 

 the axils of the leaves. In some cases fruit of superior quality 



