Post Aixe7liVRfffdjsnc8 by tevruden@nonexiste.net
(DIR) More posts by tevruden@nonexiste.net
(DIR) Post #AixYzI7x4jIVmXvIqO by ajroach42@retro.social
2024-06-15T18:15:08Z
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There's a fruit tree native to North America that I had never heard of until recently, and that I suspect is not especially well known. And it's weird. It's called a pawpaw. It's unrelated to the papaya, although that's where the name probably comes from. It's the largest edible fruit native to north america (more american than apple pie) The trees grow in clone clusters, but they can't self-fertelize, which means that they are *frequently* found without fruit. They are pollinated by flies and beetles, which is also rare in edible fruits. Anyway, I found a cluster of the trees growing not far from here, but no fruit.
(DIR) Post #AixZI82gnL5q0SRang by sam@social.coop
2024-06-15T18:18:20Z
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@ajroach42 I planted one of these in my back yard a year or two ago! Sadly, it's alone so no fruit since there aren't any others in the neighborhood that I'm aware of, but it did flower for the first time this year!
(DIR) Post #AixamHWKDiMc2lFQem by notptr@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-06-15T18:35:00Z
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@ajroach42 we had a large patch of them, but we lost them when we did some clean-up in our woods.
(DIR) Post #AixaqRvlSO0nUN8O80 by ajroach42@retro.social
2024-06-15T18:35:36Z
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@notptr That patch was almost certainly a single plant with a shared root system! That's how they grow, isn't that neat?
(DIR) Post #AixaxIGfmUfbY0B4aG by notptr@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-06-15T18:37:09Z
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@ajroach42 Yeah, they are pretty.We got another patch growing, but I think they are too young to produce fruit.
(DIR) Post #Aixe7liVRfffdjsnc8 by tevruden@nonexiste.net
2024-06-15T19:12:29Z
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@ajroach42 The pawpaw always makes me wonder about THIS part of the Bare Necessities because the pawpaw / papaya/ prickly pear is are all native to North America. But while India, where the story would have taken place grows a *lot* of papaya, they don't have cactus.
(DIR) Post #AixhUDiiJH3GixNSEq by GeoWend@kosmos.social
2024-06-15T19:50:21Z
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@ajroach42 The fruit is quite tasty...but does not transport at all well.There are large patches of them up near Berkeley Springs...I have a friend that brings some down when there are is fruit. (The groves that produce, do so inconsistently) You can get cultivars...One GreenWorld has them, as did Edible Landscaping.
(DIR) Post #AixjE02Fcd0VYXuPNw by scunning@metalhead.club
2024-06-15T20:09:48Z
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@ajroach42I love pawpaws and have a couple of seedlings growing in my garden. I hope to get fruit in the next 5-10 years. The fruits are delicious and I hope you're able to find some around September.
(DIR) Post #AizULyo6xguN4GYunI by ddlyh@topspicy.social
2024-06-16T16:32:37Z
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@ajroach42 The Pawpaw is mentioned in the Jungle Book (both the book and the original Disney film)...
(DIR) Post #AizfUk1iNrqNKRJ0NM by ajroach42@retro.social
2024-06-16T18:37:27Z
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@ddlyh Interesting! I knew it was in the movie, I didn't realize it was mentioned in the book. That's ... real weird, although I imagine that they meant Papaya, which is occasionally called pawpaw, which is where the North American Pawpaw took it's name (visual resemblance, no relation.)