Can anyone identify this?

[milani74]

Hi all, went on a hike and came across this fruit.

I opened one and it looked pale whitish in color with multiple seeds that were dark brown- about 3/4 of an inch long and 1/4 inch wide. The seeds were kind of stacked on top of one another separated by the fruit. The fruit came from a tree with smooth bark like a mangrove. The consistency of the fruit was like a avocado.
Here are the leaves.

Can anyone identify?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Looks like PawPaw (Asimina triloba) to me.

Fruit's not ripe yet.

Doc

 

[milani74]

After reading online it appears to be it! Thanks a ton Doc. Have you ever eaten pawpaw?

 

[RescueRiley]

Doc beat me to it.. He is definitely the fastest gun in these parts when it comes to most things.. especially plants.

 

[ejes]

Absolutely correct; Paw Paw. I am picking my supply right now for the year. I freeze the pulp so I can make cakes, breads, ice-cream, etc. year round. It is one the BEST fruits to eat health-wise for you. I am a huge Paw Paw fan and have some different varieties in my yard that I've planted. Been eating and hunting them for 35 years.

Doc, I hate to contradict, but that fruit could very well be ripe looking like that. Color change is not always a reliable indicator of ripeness for them. I know most years it needs to look like a brown banana to be ripe, but this year, in my area at least, it has been out of the norm. The fruits around here look exactly like that and are falling due to the cooler weather we've been having here. The fruits are smaller due to the cooler weather I think as well, but they are the sweetest and best tasting I've come across in many a moon. If it is splochy like that and soft when squeezing, give it a taste. If it is ripe it will be very sweet, custardy and sticky. If it is not, it will not taste very sweet and you should not eat anymore as it will upset your stomach.

On a side note, if you make a debris shelter, burning the leaves of Paw Paw inside to smoke the shelter will do a good job of getting rid of insects you don't want sleeping with you! The tree and it's leaves are renowned for having natural insecticide properties and have very few natural pests that attack it because of that.

The Paw Paw also is being studied for it's curative properties against cancer, amongst other things. It is an AMAZING tree! Check out Kentucky State University's website. They have some of the most extensive research literature, as well as recipes, on this tree: http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/default.htm

 

[Horn Dog]

Picking up paw-paws; put ‘em in a basket.
Picking up paw-paws; put ‘em in a basket.
Picking up paw-paws; put ‘em in a basket.
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.

 

[J_Curd]

They are similar to a pear, but not. Tasty!

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Doc, I hate to contradict, but that fruit could very well be ripe looking like that.

No worries, ejes - I've never seen Paw Paw in the wild, I was just going by things I read.

Never hesitate to correct inaccuracies, because by doing so, you help the person who makes the mistake as well as everyone else reading the thread.

Thank you! :thumbup:

Doc

 

[ejes]

No worries, ejes -

Thanks Doc! Your knowledge on plants here is voluminous and legendary if I may say so; I can't tell you how much I've learned from your threads in my brief time here. I just didn't want to be disrespectful of that.:thumbup: The Paw Paw is one plant I have a passion for. Love, love, love my Paw Paw trees.

 

[milani74]

Thanks for sharing your insights guys. I've never even heard of pawpaw before. Gonna try them tomorrow and might go back to grab some more of them.

 

[ejes]

Thanks for sharing your insights guys. I've never even heard of pawpaw before. Gonna try them tomorrow and might go back to grab some more of them.

Ya gotta get on them quick! That is why you haven't heard of them before. Most people haven't because they are near impossible to get into the commercial market. They fall and rot incredibly quick. They are so soft and fragile that they don't tolerate much transportation, so you don't normally seem them in stores. You might find them occasionally in a farmer's market though. Usually, by the time I get home, many of them are broken and gooey. That's why I run them through a cone shaped colander with a masher (jelly strainer) to get the pulp away from the large seeds and freeze it.

 

[halromberg]

I remember pickin em up on the C&O Canal for snacks as a Boy Scout. We'd be biking the trail and stop whenever we found a tree. Good stuff. Wish I could remember where those trees were exactly.

 

[mete]

The ones I had were grown here in NY state which is farther north than typically found.They have a mild pleasant flavor.

 

[PegLegPeat]

I grew up on a 10 acre farm in Arkansas, and have eaten lots of Pawpaws strait off f the tree/ ground. Used to think they were the greatest thing on earth, mainly because they were the only fruit that grew on our farm. My only advise would be to eat small portions. Like many fruits, if you stuff yourself you could wind up with a sick tummy.