The Best Papaws 



31 



ever." Prof. M. A. Barber, of Kansas 

 University, who studied this poison- 

 ing, conchides'* that it is dependent on a 

 constitutional idiosyncrasy, some people 

 being affected by papaws just as some 

 people are poisoned by strawberries, or 

 oysters. The degree of ripeness of the 

 fruit seemed, in his case, to make some 

 difference in the effect. The poison 

 appears to be in the skin of the fruit, 

 not in the flesh, and there is no record 

 of unpleasant consequences from eating 

 the fruit, which seems to be of a partic- 

 ularly wholesome character. 



All of the fruit received by the associa- 

 tion had yellow flesh, but it is certain 

 that white-fleshed varieties exist, as 

 almost every correspondent who has 

 had any extended experience with the 

 papaw mentions them. They are dis- 

 tinguished most clearly by Prof. Stanley 

 Coulter:'^ 



"Two forms, not separated botan- 

 ically, are associated in our area. They 

 differ in time of flowering, in size, shape, 

 color and -flavor of the fruit, in leaf 

 shape, venation and odor and in color 

 of the bark. They are of constant 

 poptilar recognition, never seeming to 

 intergrade." The white fleshed fruit is 

 generally said to be inferior, and this 

 probably accounts for the fact that no 

 such fruits were sent to the association. 

 It is also said by some correspondents 

 to be larger. It is very probably a 

 distinct subspecies, if not a good 

 species. The papaw's genus, Asimina, 

 has not been exhaustively studied, but 

 already six or seven distinct species 

 have been constituted in it. With the 

 exception of the papaw itself, they arc 

 all small shrubs. One of them, .4. 

 speciosa of Georgia and Florida, has an 

 ornamental yellowish- white flower, and 

 might be crossed on the papaw with a 

 view to making the flower of the latter 

 more conspicuous. 



In general, it is not certain that 

 much is to be expected from hybridiza- 

 tion of the papaw. None of the other 

 members of the genus is of commercial 



value, and the members of the family, 

 the Annonaceae or Custard Apples, 

 are mostly tropical. Commercially the 

 most promising cross would seem to be 

 with one of the Annonas — the delicious 

 South American Cherimoya, for exam- 

 ple, whose fruit sometimes reaches a 

 weight of 5 ])ounds. But there is a 

 considerable obstacle to the success of 

 this cross, in the fact that the fruit of 

 the papaw is a simple berry, while 

 that of the Annonas is compound by 

 the coalescence of the ripening ovaries. 

 The cross is worth trying, nevertheless, 

 for success would be of great importance. 

 G. P. Rixford reports that the cherimoya 

 has been successfully grafted on papaw 

 roots at Santa Barbara, Cal., and this 

 may make possible an extension of the 

 growth of the Annonas north of their 

 present limits. At present they are 

 hardy only in Southern California and 

 Florida, while the papaw is hardy as 

 far north as the Great Lakes and 

 Connecticut . 



At present the papaw seems little 

 used except to eat raw or to make by 

 fermentation a rather bitter beer. Its 

 addition to custard pie produces a 

 satisfactory effect. Dr. C. F. Lang- 

 worthy, of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, who tested its possibilities, 

 concludes that the best way of treating 

 it is to beat the flesh up with cream. 

 It also makes a delicious ice cream. 



It is the opinion of those who have 

 handled the fruits sent to the American 

 Genetic Association, that the papaw's 

 reputation would be much better if it 

 were eaten at the proper stage of 

 maturity. It is by many supposed to 

 be eatable only after it has hung on the 

 tree for some time, when the flesh 

 becomes dark in color and slightly 

 fermented. In this condition, however, 

 it seems to the writer and his associates 

 to be really unfit to eat. The fruits 

 that have given the greatest satisfaction 

 are those that were picked just as they 

 began to soften, and allowed to ripen 

 in a cool temperature. Some that were 



•* Barber, M. A. Poisoning Duo to the Papaw {Asimina triloba). Journal of the American 

 Medical Association, December 30. 1905. 



^ Report of Indiana State Geologist, 1899, p. "45, quoted in Eleventh Annual Report, State 

 Board of Forestry, Indianapolis, 1912. 



