Dwarf Papaya - Col de Monte

Most commonly found in cultivation in Ecuador between 600 and 1,700m elevation bearing small yellow fruits. There, the people like the fruit so much that they protect and nurture even wild specimens. The smooth, hard-skinned fruit has 5 faint ridges and a orange skin. Taste is highly variable. Some of its fruits are quite sweet with an attractive taste somewhat like apples. Others are astringent and barely edible, even cooked. Some of these small, fragrant fruits are eaten raw and usually mixed with other fruits. Cooked with lemon and sugar they have been likened to stewed apricots. Their firmness makes them suitable for drying and candying, and they freeze well. The young seedlings and mature leaves are cooked as greens (hence the common name col de monte, which, translated, means mountain cabbage.) The plant grows vigorously, but reaches only 1 - 3m in height. It is generally monoecious, commonly having male and female flowers together on the same inflorescence.