Foliage Friday - Pawpaw Tree

Happy Foliage Friday! Let's get to it.  (I'm ignoring your disapproving glances when you realized I forgot to post last week....)

Ready for a Foliage Friday update? I hope so! Here is your friendly plant post, where I talk about a plant I love and hopefully convince you to either plant it or just be more knowledgeable about it.

Plant: Common Pawpaw, Asimina triloba

Why: I work with prairie plants all day long in the nursery at the Forest Preserve, and I love it! But in college, my absolute favorite classes were about woody landscape plants and woody perennials. Once I shared this with my coworkers, they all start asking me questions about trees and I realized I am getting a little rusty! Uh oh! It's time to get unrusty and revisit some of my favorite trees. I picked the pawpaw for a few reasons. First of all, there are a few pawpaws in the preserves of our district, and everyone gets excited about them, as they are a little hard to establish. Second, the name is fun. Say it. Pawpaw. Say it faster. Pawpaw. Hehe. Third, I love trees with unique features, and this one has a few!

Pawpaw in landscape environment

Landscape uses: Well, I will start off by saying that the pawpaw is not a very common landscape tree, and this tends to be because it can be hard to establish. It prefers deep, moist, sandy soil and have delicate roots that require this soil. Never fear, it's possible! Stick to pawpaws that are in containers, not bare rooted.  But, as I mentioned above, it can be found in shady, moist wooded areas... which is exactly where a few of my coworkers found them! They have a relatively loose, horizontal branching pattern, and supply a nice amount of shade. They can get to be 30-40 feet tall and are easy to maintain when established. There hardly needs to be use for herbicides or pesticides for this tree.

Pawpaw in a woody environment

Other uses: The fruits of the pawpaw tree are believed to be consumed by Native Americans for years, and is safe for human consumption. Some believe in the fruit's medicinal uses!

Pawpaw fruit

Fun facts: I think this is where I will put the fun attributes of the pawpaw tree. We'll start with the leaves. They are a bit larger than the average tree's leaf, and have a droopy quality.  In the summer the pawpaw has a distinct, rich green color, while in fall, it has a rich, full yellow color. It's one of those trees that will pop out from the rest!

Droopy leaves

Another interesting feature of the pawpaw tree are its flowers. Do you ever stop and see a tree's flowers? Probably not! Unless you're passing a magnolia tree, it's hard to even imagine that trees have flowers because they are so small! Luckily, the pawpaw has a unique flower that is easier to notice. It is purple/maroon in color and droops downward. I am a big fan of how unique it is for a tree.

Flower

Finally, their fruits are also produced widely and are excellent for jams and jellies! Their picture is above, under "Other uses." What a large fruit for a tree! I find it really interesting that pawpaw trees are actually produced specifically for their fruits. Do be aware... once the fruit is picked from the tree, it ferments quickly. It's best eaten or used straight off the tree if possible. If not, freezing is a good option.

I could also get into how interesting the buds are, the color of the pith, and the pinnate venation.... but this is an intro class, and we'll stay simple. ;-)

Thank you for tuning in again for today's installment of Foliage Friday. See you next Friday! :)


Information and pictures from: http://plants.usda.gov, Yahoo Images