Not a volunteer, it was definitely planted by the previous owners. They had an interest in rare and odd things. I think I've narrowed it down to a Stenocarpus sinuatus (Firewheel Tree), an Australian native, with the help from one of the California Gardening Forum members. So far, that seems to be closest to what I am seeing. I've sent photos to my local tree nursery (Brigg's Tree Nursery in Vista, Calif), who are always ID'ing things for customers. They kind have a little competition between themselves to see who can most frequently ID unusual specimens, so it's "game on" over at Brigg's :-) Patty S.

LOL Dcarch. I notice no matter how frugal I am, I tend to open my wallet more willingly when I become a tourist. I bet the local businesses know that too! :-) Oh, the cost of labor is part of the reason for high cost foods in Hawaii. Not sure about now... when I was taking school break back in 1992, I took on a job working at Zippy's, a local fast food place. The US minimum wage was $4.25 an hour. I was paid $7.5 an hour to just buff tables and sweep the floor! I am sure kids who picked bananas and coconut were paid $7.5 an hour as well. When you add that labor cost onto a banana or that coconut, fruits that could be picked off a tree for free become almost unaffordable in the market. Sharon, I have seen people trying to grow Papaya tree in a pot but they don't usually grow that great. Not sure if the tree requires bigger roots or the fact that papaya trees are tall with nothing else to balance its weight. The tree won't grow much and fruits are usually very small. Now that I live in Canada :-( I would love to be able to grow ANYTHING! Nine months of winter in Calgary, not the best place on earth for farming, really! Al

For rooting you need rootone. I think you should read up on any cutting you want to take. Dr. Michael Dire has a great book on woody plants. All seed are not true & many apple seeds will not produce great fruit, but about 25% will fool most people. Some of the great apple we eat today came from seeds 100 year ago. Keener Seedling Keener Seedling: This heavily russetted apple with a slight red blush originated in Lincoln County, NC around 1880. It is medium in size, sweet, firm and very disease resistant. It is unique in that it ripens extremely late and can hang on the tree until late November. It has a white flesh and is good for fresh eating, cooking, and storing. http://centuryfarmorchards.com/descripts/osapage2.html

that is really hard to do. a couple of reasons... Roundish fruit "could" mean a female tree longer fruit could mean a bi-sex tree. Some males are known to produce fruit (normally skinny) but,, i have a maradol (mexican) and an asian (torpedo shape), and they look very similar. - even if you leave sex out of it... if that doesnt make it hard enough, some papaya, like maradols, can produce either.. male... female... bi-sex... male tree with female flowers, female with male flowers, a bi-sex tree with male, female, AND bi-sex flowers etc... etc... there are at least 7 types of flowers (some say 11) one more monkey-wrench... trees from seed do not always look exactly like the parent.