Flowers of papayas

Flowers of papayas that I find recently in Shatin appear milky white in colour and are shaped like stars.The five-petalled flowers look fleshy, waxy and slightly fragrant.

Here is the information I collected from Internet:

Female flowers are relatively large and rounded at the base. They have a stigma but lack stamens. Generally they must receive pollen in order to set fruit. Pollen can be carried by wind or by insects.

Male flowers are thin and tubular. They have perfect structure (i.e., they contain both male and female organs), but the small, vestigial ovary is nonfunctional. Male flowers are usually borne on a long flower stalk (peduncle).

Hermaphrodite flowers are intermediate between female and male flowers in size and shape. They are less bulbous than female flowers, but not as thin as male flowers. They have perfect structure with functional stigma and stamens and usually are self-pollinating.

Three types of plants are recognized based on flower type: female, hermaphrodite, and male.

Female plants always produce female flowers. If no male or hermaphrodite plants are nearby to provide pollen, female plants usually fail to set fruit. Unpollinated female plants occasionally set parthenocarpic fruits, lacking seeds.

Male plants are distinguished by their long flower stalks bearing many flowers. Usually they do not produce fruit, but on rare occasions there is female expression in the flowers, and they may set fruits .

Hermaphrodite plants may have male flowers, hermaphrodite flowers, or both, depending on environmental conditions and the time of year. Hot, dry weather may cause suppression of the ovary and the production of female-sterile (i.e., male) flowers. This accounts for occasional seasonal failure of hermaphrodite plants to set fruit. Male flowers on hermaphrodite plants are borne on short peduncles.

Hermaphrodite plants tend to produce self-pollinated seeds, which result in relatively uniform progenies. Seeds from hermaphrodite plants of 'Solo' varieties characteristically produce one-third female and two-thirds hermaphrodite plants, but no male plants are produced.