Papaya

The papaya (from Carib via Spanish) is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, in the genus Carica. It is native to the tropics of the Americas, and was cultivated in Mexico several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classic cultures. It is often called a "paw paw" or a "big melon" but the North American pawpaw is a different species, in the genus Asimina.