THE PAPAW THICKET. 



295 



name papaw has variously been accredited to an In- 

 dian, Creole, or Malay origin, but is probably of the 

 last. The botanical name of our Northern variety Is 

 Asimina triloba;^ the generic term being probably from 

 the Algonquin, and meaning by derivation "sleeve 

 fruit," from Its shape, and the specific referring to the 

 three-parted flower. There are also three other shrub- 

 like species whose fruit is scarcely so edible. In the 

 United States the papaw is found from Western New 

 York and Pennsylvania westward to Missouri, north- 

 ward to Michigan (occasionally even in Ontario and 

 Wisconsin), and southward to Texas and most of the 

 Southern States. It is certainly one of the most at- 

 tractive of the wild fruits of the woods, as it is also 

 perhaps the largest of those native to the forest, and 

 the name of "Northern banana" has been suggested 

 for it.2 



The axillary flowers, always solitary, precede or 

 accompany the budding leaves in spring, blossoming 

 out cup-like in some wild, shady spot in the woods, 

 sometimes drooping and pendent, like a bell. They 



* See the Century Dictionary, under "Asimina." 



^ Mr. Bradford Torrey relates the following, in a paper "On the 

 Upper St. John's," in "A Florida Sketch-book" (page 126). He was 

 carrying in his hand a sprig from one of the papaw shrubs of the region, 

 just then in full bloom (" large, odd shaped, creamy-white, heavy- 

 scented blossoms"), when he met a negro. 



"'What is this,' I asked. 'I dunno, sir.' 'Isn't it papaw?' 'No, 

 sir, that ain't no papaw;' and then, as if he had just remembered 

 something, he added, 'That 's dog banana.' " 



I am inclined to think that some of those who depreciate our 

 Northern variety might even appropriate, in derision, the negro's appel- 

 lation to our own, although, as I have said, our papaw is ordinarily 

 not much relished by dogs. 



