Paw Paw Tree

The native American Paw Paw tree is a cold hardy fruit tree that grows all the way northwards to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The Paw Paw fruit is soft and tasty like banana custard and pleasingly aromatic like ripe bananas. Paw Paw trees are native trees to the Atlantic Coastal States. and in early fall giant clusters of paw paws mature on trees, some individual fruits weighing in weighing as much as two pounds each. As the paw paw tree matures its crop, a sweet fragrance of ripe bananas drifts from the tree. Paw Paw Tree flowers are pungent causing most pollination by flies and beetles. Paw Paw Trees require a second pollinator tree for fruit production and can be harvested around September to October. Early American pilgrims found the native paw paw trees growing everywhere in Pennsylvania, when they arrived, a delicious fruit heavily hanging from densely leafed trees, fruits weighing as much as 2 pounds each in huge clusters. Fruits like those seen and admired by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The summer ripening green fruit pods sometimes remain green when fully ripened but sometimes are transformed into faded yellow. Paw Paws hanging from trees emit a banana fragrance and taste sweet.

• Paw Paw Trees are rare American native trees that produce fruit with flavor and texture most similar to a banana. The Paw Paw tree is a native plant to the United States and was discovered by DeSoto who found Paw Paw trees growing by the Indians in the year 1541 in Mississippi. For fresh eating the paw paw is delicious and spicy, and it is very frequently baked into desserts and in some states it is brewed into paw paw beer. Very often cooks will substitute in recipes for banana pudding. The color of a ripe paw paw can vary from green to bright yellow. The fruit is sweet to taste when ripe, but if left on the paw paw tree during the Winter will turn brown or black in color. Sliced chilled Paw Paws became the favorite dessert of Thomas Jefferson, and President Jefferson and George Washington established their own Paw Paw orchards at Monticello and Mount Vernon, VA. The Louis and Clark explorers found Paw Paw trees growing throughout the Midwest United States and ate paw paws on their many explorations. This aroma attracts paw paw fruit collectors reliably every season to gather the delicious fruit for fresh eating right off the branches, or for taking to the kitchen to bake into memorable holiday custards.