Patches of PawPaws

by Sid Taylor

        Do you remember the childhood folk lyrics “Oh where, oh where is sweet little Nell (repeat), Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch.  Picking up pawpaws, putting’ in her pocket (repeat), way down yonder in the pawpaw patch!”  I hear some of you saying “No!  But you sing it to us every March!”

 Pawpaws are from the same family as Pond Apples, which is Annonaceae

or Custard-apple,  it  is a primitive family as old as Magnoliaceae according to the plant classifiers (taxonomists:  those folks always changing the names of species due to moving them around on us).  This implies many flower parts.  Asimina has showy, nodding flowers with multiple stamens of thick filaments on a torus or ball-like structure surrounding the carpels (female structures).  A single flower may have from 1 to 8 carpels, each of which may develop into an individual fruit. Pawpaws with many fruit may resemble bananas, thus the name “Indiana banana” for the northern pawpaw. Multiple fruit from a flower is not as common in the family as other members. For example pond apple (Annona glabra) has aggregate fruit. Other examples of well known aggregate fruits are strawberries.

 In the Sandhills we have three Asmina species:  A. obovata (Flag/Bigflower Pawpaw), A. reticulata (Dog/Netted Pawpaw), and A. pygmaea (Dwarf Pawpaw).  There are clear field keys for Flag and Dog Pawpaws. The flowers appear on the terminal stem of the new growth on A. obovata and then the leaves develop.  With A. reticulata the flowers develop before the leaves on last year’s growth.  Petals are ivory white with maroon/purple centers when they mature.  Dwarf Papaw grows to 20” and has pink flowers with maroon streaking.  Look for the flowers in mid-March here.

 The only time I have successfully collected the fruits for baking for Incredible Edibles was due to finding a seed in raccoon scat.  I followed his tracks backwards to a plant and realized it was ripe enough to collect.  For the next week I tested all the fruit (Flag) that I encountered.  If I could squeeze a slight indentation I put it into a covered fruit bowl with a ripe banana.  I froze the ready ones daily.  Use any persimmon recipe.  The flavor is stronger.  Sometimes in the Midwest they call them Dog Bananas or Custard Bananas.  It is a favorite of opossums and coyotes.  The animals usually beat me to them.

 The Family is considered tropical.  The A. triloba, the Common Pawpaw that grows into a small tree and the range extends from the Florida Panhandle west to Nebraska and north to Michigan.  It is the pawpaw of Nellie’s song.