Papaya is a type of soft, sparsely branched tree, typically having a single trunk that grows from 5 to 10 meters tall.
However, an extraordinary papaya tree in Brazil has grown to a height that leaves anyone who sees it in awe.
The papaya tree reaches a height of 14.5 meters.
A Brazilian farmer named Tarcisio Foltz has cultivated a papaya tree that stands at an impressive 14.5 meters tall. Tarcisio Foltz’s papaya tree has earned a place in the Guinness World Records as the tallest papaya tree, surpassing all competitors.
In 2021, Tarcisio Foltz observed that the papaya tree in his garden in Nova Aurora was growing unusually, much taller than any he had ever seen. Its impressive height drew the attention of everyone who visited his home. Due to its towering stature, Tarcisio Foltz was unable to measure it himself.
He enlisted the help of his friend Gilberto Franz, who used a drone to capture aerial footage for clarity. Subsequently, he hired a team of experts to accurately measure the tree’s height.
The papaya tree is nearly as tall as a five-story building.
Experts confirmed that Tarcisio Foltz’s papaya tree measures 14.5 meters, surpassing the previous Guinness World Record of a 14-meter tall papaya tree owned by farmer Jhantu Paul in India.
Tarcisio Foltz stated: “It is a great honor for me. I am very happy and proud to have grown a papaya tree of such enormous size.”
Guidelines specify that to qualify for a record, the tree must be a living specimen. Tarcisio and his friend Gilberto had to patiently wait nearly four months for the tree to recover from frost damage.
It typically takes about three years for a papaya tree to mature and begin bearing fruit. When the tree reaches a height of approximately 90 cm, its sex can be determined. The flowers of the female papaya tree are located near the trunk and are larger than those of the male tree.
Tarcisio Foltz hopes to bring more recognition to his hometown of Nova Aurora by leveraging the fame of this record-breaking papaya tree.
Papaya is one of the characteristic fruit trees of the tropical and subtropical climate in Brazil, which is also one of the largest papaya producers in the world.
