24 



SILVA OF NOB Til AMERICA. 



ANOXACE^. 



roundedj or sometimes slightly pointed at the extremities, more or less falcate, and often irregular from 

 the imperfect development of some of the seeds. It ripens in September and October. It is three to 

 five inches long-, an incli or an inch and a half in diameter, and weighs from six to twelve ounces. The 

 seeds, which separate readily from the ard confluent with the pericarp, are an inch long, half an inch 

 broad, ovate, and rounded at the extremities. The brown shining outer coat becomes paler on exposure 

 to the air, and wrinkles by the shrinking of the albumen in drying.' 



The western part of the state of New York and the northern shores of Lake Ontario ^ are the most 

 northern points reached by Asimina triloba; it occurs In eastern and central Pennsylvania, and thence 

 spreads west to southern Michigan, southern Indiana, and eastern Kansas, and south to middle Florida 

 and to the valley of the Sabine River in Texas. It is comparatively rare in the region borderino- the 

 Atlantic seaboard ; in the valley of the Mississippi River it is often very common, forming the thick 

 forest-underwood on rich river-bottom lands, or sometimes exclusively occupying the ground with dense 

 thickets many acres in extent. The presence of this tree is always an indication of deep rich and rather 

 moist soil ; it attains its greatest size in the fertile valleys of the streams flowing into the lower Ohio 

 River, and in those of central and southern Arkansas. 



The wood of Asimina triloba is light, soft and weak, coarse-grained and spongy, wath the layers 

 of annual growth clearly marked by several rows of large open ducts. The color of the heartwood is 

 hght yellow shaded with green, and rather darker than the thin sapwood composed of from twelve to 

 twenty layers of annual growth. It has, when perfectly dry, a specific gravity of only 0.3969, a cubic 

 foot of the dry wood weighing 24.74 pounds. The inner bark, stripped from the branches in the early 

 spring, is stlfl used by fishermen on the Ohio and other western rivers for stringing fish j formerly it 

 was often employed In making fish-nets, and for similar purposes.^ 



The Papaw was first noticed in 1541 * by the followers of De Soto in the valley of the Mississippi. 

 It was not described, however, until more than two centuries later, when Catesby published a fio-ure of 

 it in his JSfatural History of Carolina.^ The Papaw was first cultivated in Europe in 173G by Peter 

 ColHnson, who probably received it from John Bartram. Although rarely seen in cultivation outside of 

 botanical gardens, It is well worth a place in ornamental plantations for its large and conspicuous foliage 

 and for its handsome flowers and fruit. The Papaw ^ is only precariously hardy in NewEno-knd. 



into the cup of the corolla. It seems more probable, however, that 

 its ohject is to attract insects, without whose aid the proterogynons 

 flowers would be obliged to depend for fertilization on the dubious 

 chance of the pollen of one flower dropping or being blo-^vn upon 

 the stigma of another. 



^ The skin of the fully grown fruit is at first green covered with 

 a glaucous bloom. The flesh at this time is green, gradually turn- 

 ing white towards the centre ; it is firm and may be broken with a 

 sharply defined fracture which generally intersects a seed from 

 which it separates easily, and has a. fetid odor and a most disagree- 

 able flavor. As the fruit ripens the flesh changes from green to 

 yellow, the tough grain becoming soft. 'When fully ripe the skin is 

 dark brown or almost black ; the flesh is then semi-transparent, 

 sweet and luscious to the taste, the delicacy of the flavor increasing 

 after the fruit has been slightly frozen. The fruit of the Papaw in 

 this stage is wholesome and can he eaten freely. It is sold in large 

 quantities in cities and towns in those parts of the country where 

 the tree grows naturally, although it is not sent to the large eastern 

 markets. 



" Papaw eaters recognize two varieties of the fruit, the white 

 and the yellow. The yellow papaw flesh is edible, but there is 

 no difference in the trees. Wliite papaws retain their disagree- 

 able odor until they decay ; they do not turn yellow upon ripening. 



and will sicken those who highly relish the other fruit." (Lloyd, 

 Drugs and Med. N. Am. ii. 51.) 



2 J. W. Burgess, Bot. Gazette, vii. Qo. 



8 A white colorless and tasteless alkaloid, Asimine, has been ob- 

 tained by Lloyd from the seeds of Asimina triloba. (Lloyd, /. c. ii. 

 54.) Preliminary studies of this new product show that it acts 

 on the brain of animals, causing somnolence and finally stupor and 

 unconsciousness. 



* " There is a fruit through all the eountrie which groweth on a 

 plaut like llgoacan, which the Indians doe plant. The fruit is like 

 uuto peares rlall : it hath a verie good smell, and an excellent 

 taste." i^The Discovery and Conquest of Terra Florida, Hakluyt, 

 Rye's ed. 169.) 



^ Anonafructu lutescente, l(Evi, scrotum Arietis referente, ii. 85, t. 



85. — Trew, PI. Ehret. i. t. o.~Duhamcl, Traite des Arhres, i. 56, 



1. 19.— Clayton's description in tlie Flora Virginica, 61, published 



m 1739, refers to the Papaw, which was confounded, however, by 



Gronovius with a West Indian species of Anona. 



Anona foUis lanceolatis, fructibus trifdis, Miller, Diet. Icon. i. 23, 

 t. 35. 



^ The popular name Papaw was probably given to Asimina tri- 

 loba from a fancied resemblance of the fruit to the true papaw, the 

 fruit of Carica Papaya, L., of tropical America. 



