the.com/pawpaw
North America's largest native fruit tastes like mango bred a banana in a forgotten forest
means A fruit tree native to eastern North America (Asimina triloba) bearing large, soft, custardy fruit with a tropical flavor; also the name used in some regions for the papaya.
from From the Spanish papaya, which the English clipped and reshaped into "pawpaw" — the Spanish word itself borrowed from an Arawakan (Taíno-related) Caribbean language. Early European settlers in North America, finding a native fruit that reminded them of the tropical papaya they'd heard of, transferred the borrowed name to it. So the word made a long trip — Caribbean tongue, to Spanish ships, to English mouths — before landing on a temperate-forest tree that isn't a papaya at all.
- flavor
- Custard-like blend of banana, mango, and melon
- native range
- Wild across 26 eastern US states
- presidential fan
- George Washington loved them chilled for dessert
- no shelf life
- Bruises in days, never sold in stores
- pollinators
- Flies and beetles, lured by rotting-meat scent
ohio pawpaw festival — annual event in chillicothe, ohio celebrating the native fruit with tastings and sales
asimina triloba — the only pawpaw species native to north america, wild in 26 u.s. states from florida to michigan
kentucky pawpaw patch — historic pawpaw grove along the kentucky river, documented as one of the largest wild stands