The Pawpaw Tree The “Indiana Banana”

1. The Pawpaw TreeThe “Indiana Banana” By Erin Boone

2. A Name by any Other Name • The name of this plant is sometimes spelled Papaw - and in that form is often confused with another fruit that sometimes goes by that name, the Papaya, Carica papaya. (The latter is in a totally different family than our Pawpaw, and can only grow in tropical areas.) • Known by several other names including the American Custard Apple, the West Virginia Banana, and the Indiana Banana.

3. The Plant • Paw paw trees have large leaves that hang down and turn a clear yellow in autumn. The fruits are oval in shape, and they are quite soft with light yellow flesh that is sweet, and has a creamy texture. Some describe the fruit as having a taste somewhat between that of the May-apple and the banana. They break open easily but their light brown seeds are, like the custard apple’s black seeds, not edible.

4. Distribution Map for the Pawpaw • There are about seven other members of the genus Asimina, all growing in the southeastern U.S. Our Pawpaw, which grows as far north as New York and southern Ontario, out west as far as Nebraska and Texas, and south to Florida.

5. Historical Background • Lewis and Clark wrote in their journals that they were quite fond of the pawpaw. At one point during their expedition in 1806, they relied on pawpaws when other provisions ran low. • Thomas Jefferson cultivated the trees at Monticello, have recognized the fruit’s unique flavor and untapped potential. • An elusive fruit occasionally found in abandoned orchards most commonly figures in American culture in the rhythmic, alliterative refrain of a traditional song. “Pickin’ up pawpaws, put ‘em in your pocket…Way Down Yonder in the Paw Paw Patch.”

6. A Versatile Plant • It has been reported that a Purdue University researcher had isolated a powerful anti- cancer drug, as well as a safe natural pesticide from the Pawpaw tree. • In October, 1997, North Carolina deemed it as a poisonous plant because some individuals cannot eat them without severe stomach and intestinal pain. • As late as the early 1900's, fishermen in the Ohio valley were using strips of the inner bark for stringing fish. They likely learned this use from the Indians, who used these bark strips to make fabric and nets.

7. Not Loved by All • The unpleasant smell the stem emits when it is damaged keeps the tree from being palatable to deer, making this plant gain in popularity in some states in 2005. • In other areas, botanists feel that it is becoming a weed, taking over places that used to have a wide variety of species, but where seedlings of other trees are being gobbled up by deer, leaving the Pawpaws to thrive.

8. Pawpaw Recipes

9. http://www.fred.net/kathy/pawpaws.html http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/ho-220.pdf http://www.easywildflowers.com/quality/asi.tri.htm http://songsforteaching.com/folk/s/pawpawpatch.mp3 http://agr.georgia.gov/is-that-a-pawpaw-in-your-pocket.aspx