Gems | Flash Post 317

Button, were you there when the gardener informed us why the papaya tree in our terrace garden stubbornly refuses to bear fruit?

I was present and I was amazed at what he said. Why don’t you share it with our readers?

Well, as you know, Button, we’ve had this papaya tree in the garden for as long as we’ve lived here.

Which is around 7 years, I would imagine!

More. It’s grown up into a strapping seven-footer but not given fruit even once. In fact it was barididi who casually enquired of the gardener why this was so. That’s when our gardener informed us that the papaya tree we have in our terrace garden is a male tree.

It was a revelation.

Never did it strike us that this could be the only reason why our papaya tree has never borne fruit. Of course, he didn’t go into the details of how we can distinguish a male tree from a female one and was kind enough to offer to get a female papaya tree.

The lone papaya tree will finally have a friend.

The flowers of the papaya tree are exquisitely beautiful. This is the first time I’m seeing their images. Another revelation is that there are hermaphrodite papaya flowers that have the stamen as well as the pistil which are the male and female organs. These trees can produce fruit without pollination.

8 Comments

david d'costa August 20, 2018 at 6:18 pm

Hahahaha…this is ridiculously cute. I have never heard anything like it. I have heard of birds, animals, insects and humans mating. But plants? Would never have imagined. This is a true gem of a story.

Reply
- author August 27, 2018 at 1:22 pm
  
  My dear David,
  
  Our gardener must have noticed the shock on my face when he told me about it. I have also asked him to get a female papaya tree and check out if what he said is correct once I actually see the papaya fruit on it.
  
  Stay in touch to find out.
  
  Reply
kinjal majgaonkar August 20, 2018 at 6:21 pm

Actually they did teach us this in school. It’s called cross pollination in flora and fauna language. Am I right author? But if you were to think of plants as living things that have feelings, you would feel bad for them. They must be getting lonely all the time.

Reply
- author August 27, 2018 at 1:16 pm
  
  Dear Kinjal,
  
  You’re right about cross pollination. That’s how fertilisation takes place. Plants also have a life, they feel pain when their leaves and flowers are yanked off. They also share a symbiotic relationship with other species of plants.
  
  Now, this is getting interesting.
  
  Reply
vandana shetty August 20, 2018 at 6:24 pm

Apart from the fact that they have a lot of challenges in their loves, like getting uprooted or drowned in floods or dehydrated by the sun, do plants also have mood swings? Can plants and trees talk to each other? Do they have friends given that they spends sometimes years and years standing next to the same person? Do they fall in love? Would be great to write a book on this.

Reply
- author August 27, 2018 at 1:10 pm
  
  My dear Vandana,
  
  Your questions have opened up an amazing chapter because I just found out that plants share a symbiotic relationship with each other which means that two different species share a close, long-term interaction but, there are many different types of symbiotic relationship: Mutualism is one where both species benefit from the interaction.
  
  I’m grateful you asked.
  
  Reply
pushkar pandey August 20, 2018 at 6:28 pm

Benefits of papaya seeds. Don’t throw them away.

Papaya seeds contain nutrients that help heal cirrhosis of the liver and improve kidney health, preventing renal failure. Its anti-inflammatory properties help treat arthritis and joint disease. It contains an alkaloid called carpaine that kills intestinal worms and amoeba parasites.

I have them regularly. Try it.

Reply
- author August 27, 2018 at 1:04 pm
  
  Dear Pushkar,
  
  This is news to me though I did read about the benefits of the papaya seed in some tabloid a couple of days back. How have you benefited and for how long have you been taking them? Do you simple swallow them with water? How much are you supposed to take?
  
  Reply