Papaya is a shrub or a small tree, with a height of 5- 10 meter, and the bark falls off in pieces; Branchlets spineless, cylindrical, pilose when young, soon falling off, purple-red, biennial branches glabrous, purple-brown; Winter buds are semi-circular, with blunt apex, hairless and purplish brown. Leaf blade elliptic-ovoid or elliptic-oblong, sparsely obovate, 5-8 cm long and 3.5-5.5 cm wide, with acute apex, wide wedge-shaped or round base, sharp serrated edge, spiny, glandular teeth, densely covered with yellow-white villi below when young, and soon shedding without hair; Petiole 5- 10 mm long, puberulent, glandular toothed; Stipules membranous, ovate-lanceolate, apex acuminate, margin glandular toothed, about 7 mm long.
Flowers solitary in leaf axils, pedicels short and thick, 5- 10 mm long, glabrous; Flower diameter 2.5-3 cm; Calyx tube bell-shaped outside glabrous; Sepals triangular-lanceolate, 6- 10 mm long, tapering at the top, glandular teeth at the edge, glabrous outside, densely covered with light brown fluff inside, reflexed; Petals obovate, pale pink; Stamens are numerous, not half as long as petals; Style base connate, pilose, stigma capitate, with inconspicuous division, about as long as stamens or slightly longer.