The Institute for Regional Conservation

Plants of South Florida · Plants by Conservation Area · Plants by County · Plants by Habitat
Quick Search · Advanced Search

Please scroll to the bottom for more images.

Carica papaya L.
Papaya

Copyright by: George D. Gann

Family: Caricaceae

Group: Dicot

Substrate: Terrestrial

Habit: Tree

Perennation: Perennial

Native Range: Peninsular Florida, the West Indies, southern Mexico, Central America and South America; widely cultivated and naturalized.

Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida

IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status: Secure

SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence: Present

SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status: Native

SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status: Cultivated

Comments: Long considered non-native to Florida, prehistoric papaya seeds were recently discovered at a Calusa site near Fort Myers. For more infomation about papaya and its nativity in Florida, see Dan Ward's 2011 article in The Palmetto: 28-1, provided courtesy of the Florida Native Plant Society.

Other data on Carica papaya available from :

	Occurrence	Native Status
Carica papaya has been found in the following 119 conservation areas :
Alice C. Wainwright Park	Present	Native
Atlantic Dunes Park	Present	Native
Babcock Ranch Preserve	Present	Native
Bahia Honda State Park	Present	Native
Bartlett Estate	Present	Native
Big and Little George Hammocks	Present	Native
Big and Little George Hammocks	Present	Native
Big Cypress National Preserve	Present	Native
Big Torch Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area	Present	Native
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park	Present	Native
Bill Sadowski Park	Present	Native
Biscayne National Park	Present	Native
Biscayne National Park, Florida Keys Section	Present	Native
Black Point Park and Marina	Present	Native
Blowing Rocks Preserve	Present	Native
Blue Heron Hammock, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area	Present	Native
Bocilla Preserve	Present	Native
Bonair Beach Parcel, Martin County	Present	Native
Camp Owaissa Bauer	Present	Native
Cape Romano - Ten Thousand Islands Aquatic Preserve	Present	Native
Castellow Hammock parcel 28	Present	Native
Castellow Hammock parcel 31	Present	Native
Castellow Hammock parcel 33	Present	Native
Castellow Hammock Park	Present	Native
Cayo Costa State Park	Present	Native
Chapman Field Park	Present	Native
Collier-Seminole State Park	Present	Native
Crandon Park	Present	Native
Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge	Present	Native
Curry Hammock State Park	Present	Native
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks Botanical State Park	Present	Native
Deering Estate at Cutler	Present	Native
Don Pedro Island State Park	Present	Native
Dove Creek Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area	Present	Native
Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park	Present	Native
Dry Tortugas National Park	Present	Native
Dupuis Reserve	Present	Native
Enchanted Forest Park	Present	Native
Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area	Present	Native
Everglades National Park	Present	Native
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park	Present	Native
Fern Forest Nature Center	Present	Native
Frenchman's Forest Natural Area	Present	Native
Frog Pond/L-31 N Transition Lands	Present	Native
Fuchs Hammock Preserve	Present	Native
Gasparilla Island State Park	Present	Native
George N. Avery Pineland	Present	Native
Girl Scouts South Miami Little House	Present	Native
Greynolds Park	Present	Native
Gulfstream Park	Present	Native
Harden Hammock	Present	Native
Hattie Bauer Hammock	Present	Native
Hillsboro Pineland Natural Area	Present	Native
Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge	Present	Native
Holiday Hammock	Present	Native
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park	Present	Native
Ingram Pineland	Present	Native
J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge	Present	Native
J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area	Present	Native
John D. MacArthur Beach State Park	Present	Native
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park	Present	Native
Jonathan Dickinson State Park	Present	Native
Juno Dunes Natural Area	Present	Native
Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area		Native
Kendall Indian Hammocks Park	Present	Native
Kendalwood	Present	Native
Key West National Wildlife Refuge	Present	Native
Lake Okeechobee Marshes	Present	Native
Lake Okeechobee Ridge	Present	Native
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park	Possibly Extirpated	Possibly Extirpated
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, Klopp Tract	Present	Native
Little Hamaca Park	Present	Native
Little Torch Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area	Present	Native
Long Key Natural Area & Nature Center	Present	Native
Long Key State Park	Present	Native
Loveland Hammock	Present	Native
Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area	Present	Native
Lucille Hammock	Present	Native
Matanzas Pass Preserve	Present	Native
Matheson Hammock Park	Present	Native
Meissner Hammock	Present	Native
Milton E. Thompson Park	Present	Native
Mound Key Archaeological State Park	Present	Native
National Key Deer Refuge	Present	Native
Navy Wells Pineland 23	Present	Native
Navy Wells Pineland Preserve	Present	Native
Ocean Ridge Hammock Park	Present	Native
Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest, Okaloacoochee Slough Wildlife Management Area	Present	Native
Okaloacoochee Slough Wildlife Management Area - FWC, Okaloacoochee Slough Wildlife Management Area	Present	Native
Palm Drive Pineland	Present	Native
Pine Island Ridge Natural Area	Present	Native
Porter-Russell Pineland	Present	Native
Quail Roost Pineland	Possibly Extirpated	Possibly Extirpated
R. Hardy Matheson Preserve	Present	Native
Ramrod Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area	Present	Native
Red Reef Park, including Gumbo Limbo Nature Center	Present	Native
Rock Pit 34	Present	Native
Rocky Point Hammock	Assumed to be Present	Native
Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve	Present	Native
Savannas Preserve State Park	Present	Native
Secret Woods Nature Center	Present	Native
Silver Palm Groves	Present	Native
Simpson Park	Possibly Extirpated	Possibly Extirpated
South Beach Park	Present	Native
Spanish River Park	Present	Native
St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park	Present	Native
Sugarloaf Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area	Present	Native
Sunny Palms Pineland	Present	Native
Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge	Present	Native
The Barnacle State Historic Park	Present	Native
Trail Glades Range	Present	Native
Tree Tops Park	Present	Native
Twin Rivers	Present	Native
Virginia Key Beach Park and Marine Stadium	Present	Native
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens	Present	Native
Wahoo Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area	Present	Native
West Biscayne Pineland	Present	Native
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park	Assumed to be Present	Native
Woodmont Natural Area	Present	Native

	Occurrence	Native Status
Carica papaya has been found in the following 10 counties :
Broward County		Native
Collier County		Native
Glades County		Native
Hendry County		Native
Lee County		Native
Martin County		Native
Miami-Dade County		Native
Monroe County (Keys)		Native
Monroe County (Mainland)		Native
Palm Beach County		Native