Ideal upland sites for planting seeds are wherever the deciduous canopy does not include trees indicative of high water tables (such as Red Maple and Black Ash). But pawpaw planting lore suggests that this subcanopy tree also does well in uplands. There is good reason to ponder why "wild" pawpaw patches tend to be found on raised platforms in river flood zones and especially on slopes rising from the rivers into the uplands. Where overpopulated deer have plundered edible saplings of n VIDEO: Helping Forests Walk 04 B - Is this an Old Growth Pawpaw Patch? (Michigan, 2021) No other species in that family extends as far poleward beyond the tropics as does Asimen on Turtle Island.ĪBOVE: Connie Barlow filmed and posted a 36-minute video that shows this patch (in great detail) along the Saline River primarily during the fruiting season. Annonaceae is a huge family of tropical and subtropical plants, often with very large fruits (e.g., Cherimoya). (24 September 2021)ĪBOVE: Experiencing an old-growth pawpaw patch (an ongoing mixture of old and new stems) is like nothing else in this region. People do plant pawpaw orchards, but more for their own consumption and as a U-pick seasonal endeavor. Poisonous seeds and thin, fragile skin easily bruised, as well as brown signifying a well-ripened fruit, means that this fruit still hasn't been turned into a commercial food. As well, the seeds are and remain exceedingly poisonous to all mammals thus ensuring that rodents will not disturb them. Even if an unripe fruit falls early, animals tend to leave it alone: the skin and pulp remain unpalatable until fully ripe. In order to ensure safe passage through an animal, the seeds must fully mature and harden before the pulp does. For the past 10,000 years bears and humans have become the primary seed dispersers. Passage through the animal's digestive system was not only a great way to achieve potentially long-distance seed dispersal, but a lump of fertilizer was an additional gift wherever the seeds were deposited. (24 September 2021)ĪBOVE: Because this family of plants (Annonaceae) evolved many of its species long ago, pawpaw forged a relationship primarily with mammals large enough to swallow the big seeds whole along with the pulp. (May 2021)ĪBOVE: By the beginning of autumn, when the fruits begin to ripen, late-season ephemerals, such as nettles, have taken the place of the spring ephemerals. Even so, the patch as a whole can be centuries old (May 2021).ĪBOVE and BELOW: Pawpaw annually regrows its large leaves, such that spring ephemerals find excellent and long-lasting habitat. (December 2020)ĪBOVE and BELOW: The vertical stems themselves live for no more than about 50 or 60 years and usually lean quite a bit out of the vertical. Apparently, the horizontal stems cannot grow through even small depressions that periodically flood. (September 2021)ĪBOVE: Pawpaw "patches" are formed primarily from vegetative stems (not roots) that grow horizontally just below the surface, and then send up a new vertical stem some small or moderate distance away. Pawpaw stems can grow very close together because, technically, they are the same individual tree. All green leaves in the foreground are pawpaw leaves. (December 2020)ĪBOVE: A bit downstream from the previous photo, these two pawpaw stems are on the first rise barely above this very high flood stage. Connie Barlow is touching stems of the portion of the pawpaw patch closest to the Saline River, which is growing on the first rise. ĪBOVE: Pawpaw has a taproot, so it cannot grow in the flood zone of a river. Where overpopulated deer have plundered edible saplings of native trees. IDEAL PLANTING SITES include ecologically damaged forests Later sections of this page will explore possibilities for wild planting in locations where pawpaw could thrive but are missing.īecause pawpaw foliage and bark is too poisonous for deer: PURPOSE: Photos and text of the SALINE RIVER wild patch are intended for learning pawpaw habitat preferences. Pawpaw Patch along the Saline River of southern Michigan Native range, and other ecological aspects of this SUBCANOPY tree, see Information for Choosing Sites for Wild-Planting Seedsįor information and references on the flowers, fruit, pollinators,
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