A page for wildflower and hiking enthusiast. A lot of my pictures, both wildflowers and scenery, come from the beautiful Tennessee State Parks. I use the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for my description of native plants. All non-native plants will use someone else for the description. The best way to follow this blog is to enter your e-mail address below. You will receive an e-mail that looks just like the post with all the pictures.
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Comments are encouraged and appreciated. We are amateur botanist, and we do make mistakes sometimes with our identifications. We strive to make this a good identifying resource. All comments are moderated by me and may take several days to appear. This is due to the high number of inappropriate comments that have nothing to do with this subject.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Pawpaw, Pawpaw-apple, False-banana (Asimina triloba)
A shrub or small tree that forms colonies from root sprouts with straight trunk, spreading branches and large leaves 7-10" long and 3-5" wide. The fruit 3-5" long and 1-1 1/2" in diameter is berry-like and slightly curved, suggesting a small banana. It contains edible soft yellowish pulp with a flavor of custard. Found in moist soils, especially flood plains, in the understory of hardwood forests. The Pawpaw is the northernmost New World representative of a chiefly tropical family including the tropical fruits Annona, Custard-apple, Sugar-apple and Soursop. The wild fruit was once harvested, but the supply has decreased greatly due to the clearing of forests. The small crop is consumed by wildlife, mostly opossums, squirrels, raccoons and birds.
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Hi there :) Any chance anyone in Middle Tennessee knows of a good Pawpaw grove? I've been looking around Nashville to no avail.
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