Way Down Yonder in the Pawpaw Patch

Do you remember growing up singing about pawpaw patches? Although I knew all the lyrics, I’d never seen a pawpaw patch or tasted a pawpaw.

My first introduction to pawpaw trees was in an edible plants class at Longwood Gardens. There I learned, among other things, pawpaw trees produce the largest fruit native to North America! And they’re found in 26 states, from southern Louisiana to Lake Ontario and from the Atlantic shoreline to Nebraska and Oklahoma. Although pawpaw trees are native in the wild, they’re rarely found in our residential landscapes.

With peak pawpaw harvest season coming in early September and National Pawpaw Day celebrated on the 18th of the month this year, it’s the perfect time to learn more about this intriguing fruit.

A Little History

Native American tribes planted pawpaw trees along their route from inland villages to the Atlantic seaboard so when they returned from summer fishing expeditions, their path would be marked by the trees, as well as ensuring access to fresh, delicious food all the way home.

Native Americans weren’t the only people in colonial America enjoying pawpaw fruit. Thomas Jefferson planted pawpaw trees at Monticello and was so enamored with pawpaws he had seeds sent to him when he was living in France. Members of the Lewis and Clarke expedition subsisted on pawpaws when that was all they had to eat for several days in September 1806. And pawpaws reemerged during the Depression as a substitute for other fruit, earning the name “poor man’s banana.”

Native Americans also found other uses for pawpaw trees. The tough, fibrous inner bark was used to make cordage, rope, fishing nets and mats. Pawpaw logs were used to build split-rail fences, while the inner bark was used for fiber to mend clothes and weave baskets. Another fun fact: crushed seeds were used to treat head lice.

Pawpaw patches gave way to residential development and almost disappeared from notice. Like a few things once feared gone, they’re experiencing a resurgence.

About Pawpaws

Some facts: Asimina triloba (the botanical name) is a small understory tree, typically about 35 feet tall. These trees can grow in many conditions, but are most often found in floodplains, along deep, fertile river banks, and in shady, rich bottom lands, as well as in the woodland understory. They spread by root suckers and are often seen in clumps or patches, hence the term pawpaw patch. You may be able to find trees in Brandywine Conservancy’s Waterloo Mills Preserve and at some local farms, like Weavers Way Farm.

The tree has a tropical appearance with large leaves that are about 10 to 12 inches long and 4 to 5 inches wide. These large leaves are clustered symmetrically at the ends of branches and provide a distinctive overlapping appearance to the tree’s foliage.

Pawpaw trees are one of the last East Coast trees to get their leaves in spring. Their leaf buds stay tightly wrapped until late spring, perhaps to protect the tropical fruit from late-winter frosts. Fall foliage is a bright yellow, and the color makes it easy to spot a pawpaw patch from a distance.

The pawpaw trees produce a small red-purple or maroon flower that hangs upside down and appears in early spring, around the same time or slightly before new leaves appear. The flowers produce a faint fetid or yeasty smell.

The fruit appears in late summer or early fall, starting out green and hard as a rock, but as it ripens, it softens and becomes yellow, then brown to black. The fruit is typically 3 to 6 inches long and weighs between 5 and 16 ounces. It’s the size of an avocado, with the shape of a kidney. The fruit has a fleshy, custardy texture and contains 10 to 14 black seeds in two rows.

When ripe, the skin becomes thin and fragile and is easily bruised. But the riper the fruit, the sweeter the taste. Some people prefer to eat pawpaws when they’re still a bit firm and have a milder taste, while others wait until the fruit is at its peak of softness and stickiness with a caramel sweetness.

Eating Pawpaws

You’re likely wondering what a pawpaw tastes like. Many people compare its flavor to a mix of banana and mango, while some varieties also have a hint of pineapple. Legend has it that chilled pawpaw was George Washington’s favorite dessert.

Pawpaws may be used in any recipe that calls for bananas — think smoothies, puddings, breads and ice cream. But because pawpaws are much sweeter than bananas, the amount of sugar should be reduced. You can find five delicious pawpaw recipes — including for beer and jam — at NationalToday.com/National-Pawpaw-Day.

So why don’t we see these fruits in our grocery stores? It’s mostly because pawpaws have a very short shelf life and bruise easily, making them very perishable. Farmers markets tend to carry them in the fall, or better yet you can forage for pawpaws, an increasingly popular pastime.

Another option: grow your own. With their unusually large tropical leaves, pawpaws can make an interesting addition to your landscape, highlighted by their brilliant yellow-gold fall color. Plus, pawpaw trees are a key larval host plant for black swallowtail butterflies.

Next Superfood?

Recent studies suggest that despite their fragility, under cultivation, pawpaws may become the next superfruit, packed with nutrients. Pawpaws have 20 to 70 times as much iron, 10 times as much calcium, and four to 20 times as much magnesium as bananas, apples and oranges. Research from Ohio State found pawpaws have antioxidant levels that rival cranberries and cherries.

One pawpaw is about 80 calories and is a rich source of vitamin C, magnesium, iron and manganese, plus a moderate amount of vitamin A.

Get to Know Pawpaws

To celebrate National Pawpaw Day, there’s a Pawpaw Festival at Horn Farm in York, PA on September 20. The festival offers an opportunity to buy different cultivars of pawpaw fruit and young trees, but the most fun is tasting them! More at HornFarmCenter.org/PawpawFest.

More locally in East Brandywine Township, Bondsville Mill Park has tentatively scheduled a pawpaw celebration for September 27 with pawpaw food, recipes and more. Check the website for updates, BondsvilleMillPark.org.

Finally, learn more by reading Michael Judd’s “For the Love of Pawpaws: A Mini Manual for Growing and Caring for Pawpaws from Seed to Table.” Then maybe you’ll start picking up pawpaws and putting them in your pockets, as the song suggests.

A Few Pawpaw Nicknames

• Hillbilly mango
• Appalachian banana
• Banango
• Pawpaw apple
• Fetid bush
• Custard banana
• False banana
• Poor man’s banana
• Wild banana
• Kentucky, Kansas, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Ozark, Hoosier and prairie banana!

Sharon Richardson is a longstanding PA Master Gardener and Longwood Gardens volunteer docent. She’s active in the Greater Philadelphia Dahlia Society, Philadelphia Unit of the Herb Society and the Uwchlan Garden Club. The Uwchlan Garden Club will present “Beacons,” a free flower show at the Uwchlan Meeting House, on Sept. 18, 10 to 4. Sharon also recommends the Greater Phila. Dahlia Society’s show at Longwood Gardens, Sept. 20–21.