Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 307 



thick groves in rich ground in deep woodlands. It seems to be a 

 shade-loving tree, and when the forests around them are greatly 

 thinned or cleared away, the groves usually soon die. In cities, 

 where surrounding buildings protect them, they grow and thrive 

 where it is more or less open. There are two fine trees in the Botan- 

 ical Garden at Washington, D. C., a tree was observed close to the 

 house in a dooryard in the same city, and another in Blooming- 

 ton, Ind. The flowers, which come out just preceding the leaves, 

 are peculiar in that they expand when still small, and are at first 

 ordinary leaf-green in color. Finally they grow to full size and 

 ripen to a rich chocolate brown or brownish purple. Each blos- 

 som has a cluster of erect ovaries in the center, and these as they 

 grow heavy and hang down, .turn back against the flower-stalk, 

 so that each bunch or cluster of pawpaws comes from a single 

 flower. In early autumn, sometimes as early as August, the im- 

 mense leaves begin to turn a rich yellow,, and there are few more 

 striking sights in the vegetable world than a large grove of these 

 trees lighting up the dun forest gloom with their great tawny 

 leaves. One might say to them even more appropriately than to 

 the dandelion : 



"Gold such as thine ne'er drew the Spanish prow 

 Through the primeval hush of Indian seas," 



for they give a sense of tropical luxuriance rarely equalled in our 

 native forests. 



As a matter of food, the pawpaw appeals to different people 

 quite differently. The greater number of people appear to dislike 

 it at first, and among those who like it it seems in most instances 

 to be an acquired taste. The wood and bark have a peculiar, dis- 

 agreeable flavor, and this seems to be concentrated in the queer 

 corrugated kernel of the seed. Much depends upon the condition 

 of the fruit. A slightly underripe pawpaw is decidedly sickening, 

 and one can hardly get them too ripe. Most people probably at 

 first get one a little too green. The dead ripe pawpaw is soft and 

 usually has an aroma reminding one of guava jelly. Much depends 

 upon the manner in which the pawpaw is eaten. The habit of 

 paring them with a knife and trying to eat the solid center as one 

 would eat an apple, is quite likely to prejudice one against them. 

 The proper way to do is to gently work up the pulp into a custard 

 consistency without breaking the skin, an art that requires some 

 practice, and then suck out the semi-liquid pulp through a little 

 hole bitten in the end. The seeds are something of a bother at 

 first but one soon learns to manage them without much difficulty. 



