Habit
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Treelike, perennial herb, 6‒9 m tall; stem unbranched or with a few lateral branches, hollow, green or sometimes deep purple, to 30‒40 cm or more in diameter near the base, bearing prominent leaf scars, with leaves clustered distally.
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Flowers
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Staminate flowers numerous, pendulous, in long-pedunculate, branched cymes, calyx lobes deltate, 1‒1.5 mm long, corolla creamy white, fleshy, tube 1.5‒2 cm long, lobes lanceolate to oblong, 1‒1.5 cm long, spreading, ovary vestigial, ca. 1 mm long; pistillate flowers 1‒3 in short-pedunculate clusters, calyx lobes deltate, 5‒10 mm long, corolla creamy white, fleshy, campanulate, divided nearly to base, lobes lanceolate, ± falcate, 5‒7 cm long, reflexed, stamens absent, ovary ovoid, ca. 3 cm long, stigma ca. 1 cm long, irregularly branched; perfect flowers similar to pistillate ones, but in slightly more delicate clusters.
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Fruit
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Fruit yellow, orange, or red, ± streaked with green at maturity, extremely variable in size and shape, 5‒50 cm long, ca. 20 cm wide, pericarp yellow or orange, sweet and juicy.
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