For the first 21 years I lived here, I always had a producing papaya tree. When I knew one was within two years of its life span, I would plant another and by the time the last one was no more, the next one would be producing fruit. This is now the only papaya tree left, and it has been two years in producing fuit, but it is very strange fruit indeed as instead of growing in a clump at the top, the papayas grow at the end of very long cordlike stems that hang down a few feet from the stem.  Pasiano told me today that this is a male tree and that the fruit is inedible, but my next door neighbor, who I gave a tree to from the same seed that grew this one, says their tree is growing fruit in the same manner and revealed that they are hermaphrodite trees!  I Googled the term and this is what I learned:

Papayas come in three sexual varieties: male, female and hermaphrodite. The hermaphrodite produces the flavorful fruit that is sold commercially.

Every day a new surprise!!! David and Sergio next door are netting their papayas to protect them. Today I planted new seed and was planning on cutting my tree down, but guess I’ll do the same and bag my fruit and see what happens. Monkey see, monkey do.