COMMON PAWPAW (Custard-apple) 



Asimina triloba (L.j Dunal. 



April 



Bottomland woods 



Jn A])iil, when spring is everywhere, the pawpaws 

 l)l()ss()in and are suddenly important in a wo<k1s 

 whcic as yet the leaves have not api)eared on 

 anything hut the shadhushes and l)uekeyes. The ground is carpeted with 

 sweet William phlox and anemones, with spring beauties and the purple 

 of the lowlaiul violets; now folk come here to hunt for the suceulent 

 spring mushrooms, the sjiongy hrown morels. In the thin April sunshine, 

 the fuzzy iilack, round l»uds of the paw[)aw trees expand, turn hronzy 

 green and >h(>w part- anaiigcd in threes armind a tight, hard, rnund 

 center. 'J'hen the tlowi'r ehangi's still more until one day the A}uil sun- 

 light shines through silky, translucent. si\-j)arted, purjde-red llowers 

 which hang on slendei- hrown twigs, 'i'he gUihular centers of golden-green 

 stamens are open to the bees, and the llowers emit a rich, fruity, almcst 

 tropical odor. On the twig-tips, the pale green leaves, folded neatly down 

 their centers, slowly unfold, so that hy the time the ilowers have shriv- 

 eled, the leaves are well on their way to covering the trees. 



When it is autumn in the Illinois country, the ])awpaw fniits are 

 ripe. In the hottondand forests along the Mississijjpi, the Illinois, and 

 the Sangamon, and th.e Kankakee, along the Wal)ash and th(^ l)ig ^Fuddy 

 and the Cache, the jiawpaw fruits are ripe. 



It was in these sjune forests that the Indians knew the richly fla- 

 vored, custard-filled, Ti\)e pawpaws. TlK-y were calhvl m.s.simi/jfl by the 

 Illiniwek, to whom this was an im])ortant and much sought fruit. .l«?i- 

 ininicr. the French called them, from which Asimina. the present bo- 

 tanical name, much later was derived. Pawpaws are edible either baked 

 or raw. 



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