Pawpaw trees were discovered in 1541 by the Spanish explorer, Hernando Desoto,
on an excursion into the Mississippi Valley, and he sent samples of this plant
back to Europe. William Bartram in 1776 stated in his botanical book, Travels,
that he found pawpaw trees growing on the Alatamaha River in Georgia and in east
Florida, which he described as, ?Annona incarna,? the name later was updated by
modern taxonomists. ?The fruit the size of a small cucumber ?containing a yellow
pulp of the consistence of a hard custard, and a very delicious, wholesome
food.? This fruit is agreeably flavored and considered to be the largest native
fruit of North America. The pawpaw trees are said to be endangered or threatened
in the states of New York and New Jersey, in the forests where it grows
naturally. The pawpaw tree grows across most of the eastern United States as a
native tree. Mature pawpaw trees produce fruits 2" wide by 10" long, looking and
tasting very much like a banana. The fruit is liked immensely by most people and
may be purchased at many outdoor markets in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee,
etc. The pawpaw pulp has the consistency of creamy custard and may be eaten raw,
baked, or used as a pie filling. The trees grow about 15' tall and have been
known to produce as much as 60 pounds of pawpaws per tree. Some individual
pawpaws weigh up to a pound each. Zones 5-10 Much interest has been recently
directed towards research and development of improved varieties of the pawpaw at
Universities in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. The large fruit is not well known
in much of the United States, but its flavor and exotic shape make it a
candidate for the expansive, potential of specialty fruit markets in the future.
Taste it once fresh and you will feel compelled to have some of these pawpaw
trees growing in your personal fruit orchard. One of the great horticultural
mysteries of the world is: why have most paw paw trees, that were plentiful
throughout early U.S. forests, virtually disappeared from their natural habitat
today? That answer may lie within the research results (Peterson 1991), that
showed that the paw paw is sensitive to ultraviolet light, thus, paw paw
seedlings may not grow back after the forests have been harvested, and there are
very few virgin forests left in the United States. Paw paws can be found growing
there abundantly, but once the forests are clean-cut, the paw paw will not
usually become re-established. These experiments must be clearly remembered,
when you order your paw paw trees. They must be planted under partial shade of
other trees, however, you may plant your pawpaw trees in the open, if the trees
are grown under shade cloth for a couple of seasons. The tree will lose its
sensitivity to full sunlight once it has become established and the shade cloth
can be discarded. Some gardeners wish to plant their pawpaw trees in pots for a
couple of years under shady conditions, but this is not necessary if the above
guidelines are followed. Since paw paw trees are tap rooted, growth will be slow
during the first year, but after that, very rapid growth occurs afterwards. Paw
paw leaves are large and that large leaf surface generally indicates a need for
large amounts of soil moisture, and therefore, generally, paw paws are found in
their greatest numbers near river flood plains. Leaves or other organic
composted materials are very beneficial to paw paws. The skin of paw paws is
thin and edible and can vary in color from a light green to a golden yellow.
Most people prefer to eat the pawpaw fruit after it becomes soft to the touch.
The custard- like pulp tastes like banana and varies in color from white to deep
orange. The seed are few and large, thus, pawpaws are easy to eat raw. Most paw
paws are sold at roadside markets, because the shelf life is short.
Commercially, the paw paw is important in juices, pies, cakes, custards, ice
cream and other processed products. The pawpaw tree was voted by Better Homes
and Gardens, in the year 2000, as the landscape tree of the year. The pawpaw and
the pawpaw tree are loaded with beneficial health extracts. The bark contains
fluids that demonstrate anti-tumor properties and have been used over the years
to fight scarlet fever and red skin rashes. These extracts from pawpaw trees are
highly useful as an organic insect killer (pesticide). Pawpaw fruits are rich
in minerals such as magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, potassium, and
phosphorus. The fruit also contains abundant concentrations of Vitamin C,
proteins, and their derivative amino acids. There are a number of grafted
cultivars of paw paw but their range of adaptation is very narrow, and many
cultivars that produce heavy crops of large fruit in Kentucky, Indiana or West
Virginia do not perform satisfactorily in Georgia, Florida, Carolina or Alabama.
Consider buying improved seedling paw paw trees, which appear to be more
adaptable universally. Try some of these trees in your orchard for a real tasty
treat. Learn more about various trees by visiting the author's website:
http://www.tytyga.com
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