32 ANNONA TRILOBA. 



forms tliickots oxolusively ocnij)yinQ: sovoral acres. In Kcudicky and the west- 

 ern part ot' Tennessee, it is sonu-linies seen also, in tlie lorests, where the soil is 

 hixuriantly fertile: of which its presence is an inl'alhhle proof In these forests 

 it attains the heiizht of tliirty feet, with a trnnk six or eiglit inclies in diameter, 

 thoimh it nsually stops short of half of this hei<^ht. Aceordinsr to Dr. Wilham 

 lialdwin, the papaw ^rows sponianeously in the ishmd of Hermuda ; and in 

 Smiths " History of Virginia," it is stated to have been introduced on tliat ishmd 

 prior to lO'ili. 



This species was introduced into l^ngland l)y IVter Collinson in 1730 : and it 

 has since become icuown in the principal botanic gardens throughout Europe. 

 Miller states that the largest plant he had seen was in the Duke of Argyll's gar- 

 den, at Whitton, which liowered every year. Another plant is mentioned as 

 growinsz at Purser's Cross, which ripened fruit. 



/s'c//. Siluafion, t^'c This, as well as most of the otlier species of annona, 

 generally grows in shady places, and in a sandy soil. All the species, when cul- 

 tivated, require peat soil, and are propagated from seeds. The papaw seldom 

 produces shoots exceeding five or six inches in length ; hence a plant, in ten 

 years, does not reach above three or four feet in height, and will not llower till 

 of fifteen or twenty years' growth. It may be considered as a curious, slow- 

 growing, deciduous shrub, well deserving a place in gardens, but which ought 

 always to be isolated, and at some distance from rapid-growing plants. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the Annona triloba is spongy, extremely 

 soft, destitute of strength, and applicable to no use in the mechanic arts. All 

 parts of the tree have a rank, if not a fetid, smell ; and the fruit is relished by 

 few persons, except negroes. A spirituous liquor has been made from it, bu* it 

 is of little worth. 



