Paw Paw-Asimina triloba

Something to Ponder:

Do you know someone that just isn’t all that impressive when you simply look at them? It could be someone too young, too old, too poor, too challenged. The type of person that is easy to ignore or pass by. Our history is full of people who are under the radar, in the background. Those that deliberately shy away from the spotlight. Those that fade from thought as soon as you move on.

The Paw Paw tree surely would be a favorite of the under appreciated and under publicized! In fact even a children’s song about hiding in the Paw Paw patch has done little to promote this little tree! The Paw Paw tree is underwhelming in size and shape but it has a large impact. It produces the largest edible fruit native to North America, is resistant to deer foraging, helps provide understory coverage in developing forests, and has some historical, and possibly current, medicinal uses. It’s large fruit, which ripens in the fall, tastes like a mix between a mango, banana, and pineapple but it is largely ignored because it is difficult to transport commercially. For the hungry hiker or food enthusiast, however, it is a delightful surprise.

 Have you been surprised by someone recently? Maybe a person that you didn’t feel had much to offer? Or someone who didn’t look or act like you?

Take another look at the Paw Paw tree. It isn’t tall – in fact it barely qualifies as a tree – yet it has a large impact wherever it is planted. Resolve today to take another look at the people in your life, use “God colored lenses” and notice those in the background that have quietly made our lives and our land much richer.

Learn More:

Resembling a green mango and due to the taste and texture of its fruit, the Pawpaw-Asimina triloba has often been called the "Hoosier Banana". In the open, Pawpaw will grow to about 20 feet tall with a pyramidal shape. It has the distinction of growing the largest tree fruit of any tree native to the United States.