616 WILD AND UNCLASSIFIED FRUITS. 



being laid in layers in shallow trays, it is covered with wet 

 bran and placed in a cool room to soften, or, technically, 

 " blet." The medlar is not sufficiently good to make it worth 

 raising, except as a curiosity. Four varieties are grown in 



FIG. 813. Medlars. 



England and on the Continent. Dutch, the largest ; Monstrous, 

 large, vigorous, new; Royal, prolific, brisk flavor; and Not- 

 tingham, the smallest in size, prolific, and the best. 



PAW-PAW (Asimina triloba). 



This tree is indigenous to the Central United States valleys, 

 where it grows in thickets along the river-banks. It attains a 

 height of from twelve to fifteen feet, densely clothed with 

 large, obovate-lanceolate leaves. It blossoms in the latitude 

 of New York in May before the foliage makes its appearance. 

 The flowers are of a dark violet color, about an inch in diam- 

 eter, in clusters of from two to six or eight. The fruit is a 

 peculiar-looking affair, cylindrical, with obtuse ends, from 

 three to five inches long and from one and a half to two inches 

 thick, brown, with dark patches when fully ripe. The flesh is 



