There’s a small, but very diverse, public arboretum just down the road. I have always tried to find a pawpaw in the wild, without any luck, but they have a couple there. Not sure when their fruiting season is, but I suspect, given the amount of squirrels around here, that it wouldn’t matter much in terms of my covert plans to sneak a sample there, given the chance.
In some ways, I’m not disappointed to hear about great tropical fruits that do not travel well. (Even though I practically drool reading about the taste experiences.)
At least this prevents the expansion of mono-culture plantations in those zones.
Jelly!!!
They bruise really easily, and are really fast to be eaten when they do drop as they ripen. A good way is to jostle the tree and have someone (or two, with a blanket!) catch the ones that drop off. If they easily drop they’re typically ripe; but that stops the bruising from hitting the ground.
@lynnharper grabbing those “suckers” (what my friend who is super into plant propagation calls them) is a good way to nab some to transplant, but keep in mind the genetic variability issue. Because they do it so readily is why you often want to grab from different groves, because trees in the same spot may be genetically the same still. It’s a pretty fast way to start some trees though, faster than seed.
@broacher around here (north alabama) it is usually end of August, so coming up! The “mango-banana mashup” description I find to be pretty accurate, in almost a mindf*ck kind of way xD
Here in north-central Massachusetts, they ripen around first frost, so mid-October or so.
And I don’t need any more pawpaws of whatever genetic content! Three trees are more than enough to feed me, my friends, and the squirrels, plus whatever other animals I haven’t yet seen eating the fruit (raccoon, opossum, fox, rat, deermice, voles?).
Chionanthus of the Oleaceae is mostly tropical (including my favorites, C. pubescens and C. chrysopetala), through there’s a temperate species in the USA, C. virginicus, and another temperate one in Asia, C. retusus. I also see a lot of Forestiera obs. in the US, through there are a few species in Central America, and even one all the way south to coastal Ecuador, F. ecuadorensis.
I think we also have a wild persimmon species, D. inconstans, near the northwestern border with Ecuador, and some 10 other species in Amazonia. Never eaten them though, so not sure if they’re edible (or tasty!)