& 
ANNONA TRILOBA. 
forms thickets exclusively occupying several acres. In Kentucky and the west- 
ern part of Tennessee, it is sometimes seen also, in the forests, where the soil is 
luxuriantly fertile ; of which its presence is an infallible proof. In these forests 
it attains the height of thirty feet, with a trunk six or eight inches in diameter, 
though it usually stops short of half of this height. According to Dr. William 
Baldwin, the papaw grows spontaneously in the island of Bermuda ; and in 
Smith's " History of Virginia," it is stated to have been introduced on that island 
prior to 1623. 
This species was introduced into England by Peter Collinson in 1736 ; and it 
has since become known 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 flowered every year. Another plant is mentioned as 
growing at Purser's Cross, which ripened fruit. 
Soil, Situation, fyc. This, as well as most of the other 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 flower 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. 
