PAPAW 



Asimina triloba (Linnaeus) Dunal 



The papaw is a tall shrub or small tree from ten to forty-five 

 feet in height. It grows in rich ground along river bottoms, where 

 owing to the soft and unobtrusive coloring of the flowers, it is 

 easily overlooked when in bloom. The flowers appear earlier than 

 the leaves, along with those of dogwood and redbud, but the fruits 

 do not ripen until October. They grow singly or in sparse bunches, 

 and are of the size and shape of short stout bananas. When ripe, 

 they are colored deep yellow. Opinions differ as to their palatabil- 

 ity, but many persons enjoy their sweet aromatic flavor. The old 

 French settlers called them "assimin," a name derived from that 

 used in a dialect of the Algonquian Indians, and the genus name 

 is derived from this term. The papaw belongs to the tropical Anona 

 Family, but the eight species of Asimina are all native in the south- 

 ern United States. 



This specimen grew on Plummers Island, Maryland, near Wash- 

 ington, District of Columbia. 



Papaw ranges from Florida westward to Texas and Kansas and 

 northward to New York, southern Ontario, and Michigan. 



plate 32.8 



