''Carica'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family

Caricaceae The Caricaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, found primarily in tropical regions of Central and South America and Africa. They are usually short-lived evergreen pachycaul shrubs or small to medium-sized trees growi ...

including the

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

(''C. papaya'' syn. ''C. peltata'', ''C. posoposa''), a widely cultivated fruit tree native to the American tropics. The genus was formerly treated as including about 20-25 species of short-lived

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

pachycaul Pachycauls are plants with a disproportionately thick Trunk (botany), trunk for their height, and few branches. This can be the product of exceptional primary growth (as with Arecaceae, palms and cycads) or disproportioate secondary growth as with ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s growing to 5–10 m tall, native to

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

America, but recent genetic evidence has resulted in all of these species other than ''C. papaya'' being reclassified into three other

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

Taxonomy

The genus name comes from the botanical name of the

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

, ''Ficus carica'', because of the species' leaves or fruits resemble that of it. The ''carica'' epithet comes from

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...

in southwest

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

(Asia Minor),

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, where the fig was mistakenly thought to have come from.

Species

According to

World Flora Online World Flora Online is an Internet-based compendium of the world's plant species. Description The World Flora Online (WFO) is an open-access database, launched In October 2012 as a follow-up project to The Plant List, with the aim of publishing an ...

, the genus ''Carica'' lists 21 species. Most of the other species have since been transferred to the genus ''

Vasconcellea ''Vasconcellea'' is a genus with 20 or 26 species of flowering plants in the family Caricaceae. Most were formerly treated in the genus ''Carica'', but have been split out on genetic evidence. The genus name has also been spelled "''Vasconcella'' ...

'', with a few to the genera ''

Jacaratia ''Jacaratia'' is a genus of shrubs or trees in the family Caricaceae. They are native to South and Central America. Some species of the genus are edible to humans and served in restaurants as a delicacy. Species The following species are recog ...

'' and '' Jarilla''. According to the

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxonomic Info ...

, the four remaining species in the genus are: *'' Carica aprica'' V. M. Badillo *''

Carica augusti ''Carica'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caricaceae including the papaya (''C. papaya'' syn. ''C. peltata'', ''C. posoposa''), a widely cultivated fruit tree native to the Neotropical realm, American tropics. The genus was former ...

'' Harms *'' Carica cnidoscoloides'' Lorence & R. Torres *''

Carica papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and C ...

'' L. (

Papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

) The species that have since been transferred to their new genera are as follows: *''Carica baccata'' = ''Vasconcellea microcarpa'' subsp. ''baccata'' *''Carica candamarcensis'' = ''Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis'' ( Mountain papaya) *''Carica candicans'' = '' Vasconcellea candicans'' (Mito) *''Carica caudata'' = ''Jarilla heterophylla'' *''Carica cauliflora'' = ''Vasconcellea cauliflora'' *''Carica cestriflora'' = ''Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis'' *''Carica chilensis'' = ''Vasconcellea chilensis'' *''Carica crassipetala'' = ''Vasconcellea crassipetala'' *''Carica cundinamarcensis'' = ''Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis'' *''Carica dodecaphylla'' = ''Jacaratia spinosa'' *''Carica glandulosa'' = ''Vasconcellea glandulosa'' *''Carica goudotiana'' = ''Vasconcellea goudotiana'' *''Carica heterophylla'' = ''Vasconcellea microcarpa'' subsp. ''heterophylla'' *''Carica horovitziana'' = ''

Vasconcellea horovitziana ''Vasconcellea horovitziana'' is a species of plant in the family Caricaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat loss. It was formerly placed in genus ''Car ...

'' *''Carica longiflora'' = ''Vasconcellea longiflora'' *''Carica mexicana'' = ''Jacaratia mexicana'' *''Carica microcarpa'' = ''Vasconcellea microcarpa'' *''Carica monoica'' = ''Vasconcellea monoica'' *''Carica nana'' = ''Jarilla nana'' *''Carica omnilingua'' = ''

Vasconcellea omnilingua ''Vasconcellea omnilingua'' is a species of plant in the family Caricaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss. It was previously placed in genus ''Ca ...

'' *''Carica palandensis'' = ''

Vasconcellea palandensis ''Vasconcellea palandensis'' is a species of plant in the family Caricaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss. It was previously placed in genus ''C ...

'' *''Carica parviflora'' = ''Vasconcellea parviflora'' *''Carica pentagona'' = ''Vasconcellea × heilbornii'' ( Babaco) *''Carica pubescens'' = ''Vasconcellea pubescens'' ( Mountain papaya or Chilean Carica) *''Carica pulchra'' = '' Vasconcellea pulchra'' *''Carica quercifolia'' = '' Vasconcellea quercifolia'' *''Carica sphaerocarpa'' = ''Vasconcellea sphaerocarpa'' *''Carica spinosa'' = ''Jacaratia spinosa'' *''Carica sprucei'' = '' Vasconcellea sprucei'' *''Carica stipulata'' = ''Vasconcellea stipulata'' *''Carica weberbaueri'' = ''Vasconcellea weberbaueri''

Notes

References

Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Carica''Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Carica'' species list and synonymy
*Aradhya, M. K. et al. (1999). A phylogenetic analysis of the genus Carica L. (Caricaceae) based on restriction fragment length variation in a cpDNA intergenic spacer region. ''Genet. Resources Crop Evol''. 46: 579–586. *Badillo, V. M. (2000). Carica L. vs. Vasconcella St. Hil. (Caricaceae) con la rehabilitacion de este ultimo. ''Ernstia'' 10: 74–79. *Van Droogenbroeck, B. et al. (2002). AFLP analysis of genetic relationships among papaya and its wild relatives (Caricaceae) from Ecuador. ''Theoret. Appl. Genet''. 105: 289–297.

External links

IUCN Red List entry
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1752510 Caricaceae Brassicales genera