Because the pawpaw's flavor compounds are very volatile, prolonged heating or high temperatures destroy their characteristic flavor. In cooking, the pawpaw is best suited to recipes that require little or no heat. On a hike or picnic, you can tear an opening into one end and squeeze the flesh into your mouth. The easiest way to eat them is to cut them in half and scoop the flesh out with a spoon the large seeds, scattered throughout the flesh, are then simply spit out. USES: The primary use of pawpaws is for fresh eating. Deer will not eat the leaves, twigs, or fruit. The adult butterfly is of such great beauty that this should be thought of as a blessing.

Do not overburden the tree with fruit, as this will stress the tree, resulting in smaller than normal fruit, and may cause limbs to break under excessive weight.Įurytides marcellus, (Zebra Swallowtail), whose larvae feed exclusively on young pawpaw foliage, but is never in great numbers. The stigma is ripe when the tips of the pistils are green and glossy, and the anther ball is still hard and green.

Pollen is ripe when the little ball of anthers is brown in color, loose and friable pollen grains appear as yellow dust on the brush hairs. Although it requires a little extra labor, hand pollination can be well worth the effort and can be done as follows: Using a small, flexible artist's brush, transfer a quantity of fresh pollen from the anthers of the flower of one clone to the ripe stigma of the flower of another clone. Finally, the natural pollinators of the pawpaw (various species of flies and beetles) are not efficient or dependable. In addition pawpaw trees are self-incompatible, requiring pollen from a genetically different tree in order to be fertilized. Thus the flower is designed not to be self-pollinated. The flowers are protogynous, meaning that the stigma (the female receptive organ) ripens before the pollen, and is no longer receptive when the pollen is shed. Pollination is the major limitation to pawpaw fruit set. In the shade it has a more open branching habit with few lower limbs and horizontally held leaves. In habit it is a small tree, seldom taller than 25'. The soil should be slightly acid (pH 5.5-7), deep, fertile, and well-drained. (Zone 4) His advise start with a good strong specimen.Īlthough the pawpaw is capable of fruiting in the shade, optimum yields are obtained in open exposure, with some protection from wind (on account of the large leaves). One of our customers in Northfield MN, has been growing our pawpaws for several years now. Pawpaws are native over a wide range of latitude, from the Gulf Coastal plain to southern Michigan. The pawpaw, Asimina triloba, is a tree of temperate humid zones, requiring warm to hot summers, mild to cold winters, and minimum of 32 inches (80 cm) of rainfall spread rather evenly throughout the year, with the majority falling in spring and summer.

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