The Papaw and the Pond Apple 



on disk; sepals 3, green, downy; petals, 6, veiny, purplish red, 

 ill-smelling. Fruit, 3 to 5 inches long, like a thick, shapeless 

 banana, skin wrinkled and brown; flesh yellow, sweet, insipid. 

 Ripe in September and October. Seeds, large, hard. Preferred 

 habitat, rich bottom lands. Distribution, Southern States and 

 north into Kansas, Michigan, western New York and New Jersey. 

 Uses: Planted for ornament and for a curiosity. Fruit, in- 

 different. Wood, inferior. Bark, used for fish nets. 



This dainty little "wild banana tree" of the North is more 

 interesting than it is useful, I am bound to confess. Its great 

 leaves spread in umbrella whorls like certain magnolias, covering 

 the upturned branches with a dense thatch of green. These 

 leaves give the tree a tropical look, hinting at the fact that this 

 is a fugitive member of a large family that belongs in the regions 

 of no winter. 



The papaw is not devoid of beauty in its blossoming time, 

 though the flower resembles, and is not more conspicuous than 

 that of the wild ginger that cowers in the woods. In April, the 

 opening leaf buds have scarcely cast their scales when the wine- 

 coloured flowers appear, set at intervals upon the twigs. Then 

 the leaves come out lined with a red fuzz, which intensifies the 

 rich colour of the whole tree. The bees find the flowers worth 

 visiting, but their odour is unpleasant to most people. Twigs 

 and leaves share this disagreeable characteristic, and the fruits 

 repeat it in autumn. 



The papaw's soft pulp, in its green banana-like envelope, is 

 delighted in by the Negro of the South. It is sold in the markets, 

 but is too sweet and soft to be really enjoyed by more fastidious 

 people. One must get used to the pungent papaw taste, and 

 then only the yellow-fleshed fruits are fit to eat. These are 

 improved by hanging on the tree until they get a sharp bite of 

 frost. The name, Asimina, means "sleeve-shaped fruit," and 

 triloba refers to the three-parted flower. 



The Melon Papaw (Carica Papaya, L.), which has had its 

 name borrowed by the species just described, is a tropical tree 

 that grows wild in southern Florida, and is often seen in green- 

 houses farther north. It grows like a palm, with tall stem and 

 leaves rosetted at the top. The bark is silvery white, the leaves 

 lustrous, long stalked, deeply cleft, and often a foot across. 

 The flowers are waxen and yellow, and on the pistillate trees are 



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