The papaya (/pəˈpaɪə/ or US /pəˈpɑːjə/) (from Carib via Spanish), papaw, (/pəˈpɔː/[2]) or pawpaw (/ˈpɔːˌpɔː/[2]) is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, and is one of the 22 accepted species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae.[3] It is native to the tropics of the Americas, perhaps from southern Mexico and neighbouring Central America.[4] It was first cultivated in Mexico[citation needed] several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classical civilizations.