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Caricaceae is a
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
of
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s in the order
BrassicalesThe Brassicales are an order of flowering plants, belonging to the eurosids II group of dicotyledons under the APG II system. One character common to many members of the order is the production of glucosinolate compounds...
, native to tropical regions of
CentralManagua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
and
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
and
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
. They are short-lived
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
pachycaul
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s or small
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s growing to 5-10 m tall; many bear edible
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
.
The family comprises five genera and about 31 species:
- Carica
Carica is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caricaceae. Formerly treated as including about 20-25 species of short-lived evergreen pachycaul shrubs or small trees growing to 5-10 m tall, native to tropical Central and South America, recent genetic evidence has resulted in the genus being...
– one species Carica papayaThe papaya 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...
(PapayaThe papaya 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...
), Americas
- Cylicomorpha
Cylicomorpha is a genus of two species of plant native to the African continent....
– two species, Africa
- Jacaratia
Jacaratia is a genus of five species of plant native to the Americas, particularly South and Central America.- Species of Jacaratia :* Jacaratia corumbensis, Kuntze* Jacaratia costaricensis* Jacaratia digitata...
– five species, Americas
- Jarilla
Jarilla is a genus of three species of plant native to the Americas....
– three species, Americas
- Vasconcellea
Vasconcellea is a genus 20 or 21 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"....
– 20 species, Americas