To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] paw paw
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:17:04 -0600
Pawpaws don't flower or crop especially well in shade. They like to spread
via clonal rootstocks while waiting for something to happen to open up the
canopy. For Ernest to have have found one with actual fruit on it puts him
way ahead of the average Tennessee wild plant/fruit explorer. We found a
grave of them surrounding a sinkhole and cave, in turn surrounded by cow
pasture so there was plenty of light from all sides. Other than that patch
we have only occasionally seen fruit or even flowers on pawpaws. Up and
down our creek there are all sorts of patches suppressed by forest and too
far apart to be pollinated properly. Donna