Thanks for the interesting story, Melanie. I've never seen a paw paw tree - and pretty sure the fruit is not for sale at our local grocery. Maybe they grow in far east Texas, but for sure not here. Too hot, too dry. I'd love to taste one!

Both Geo Washington and Thomas Jefferson were fond of Paw Paw fruit.

They are tasty, but they are quite fragile and not well equipped for shipping which is why you don't see them for sale often. I know there are people in WV trying to see what they can do about that. I'd love to see a Pawpaw industry. WV desperately needs economic diversity and we Americans need more fruit in our diets so I say it's a win-win!

Now, to continue on Pawpaws, I can't grow Asimina triloba this far down in Florida. Instead, we have several other species of Asimina. While most people think of Pawpaw as a tree, the ones that grow down here in Florida are merely shrubs. They get pretty round, but I've never met one that was as tall as I am. They tend to top out at around five feet. I'm on a quest right now to get some fruits so I can get the seeds. It is very hard to find Pawpaws in cultivation because they grow very slowly, and they have enormous taproots. I've grown them from seed before, but they were on my neighbor's side of the right-of-way and despite my little flags, he kept mowing them down. I remember I started them in little 6-inch pots like you buy stuff at Home Depot in. The plant barely had its first true leaves and the taproot had already grown through the holes in the bottom!

Now, keep in mind I see Pawpaws at a preserve and so I can't pick the fruit or gather seeds. I can't collect caterpillars, either.

I can take pictures, though! I'm pretty sure what I see is A. reticulata, although I know there are other kinds, too. They have white flowers instead of red, but there are other Pawpaw species that have red flowers. The flowers show up first, then the leaves, then the caterpillars. I've never seen a caterpillar eat the fruit so it's not like they cause much harm. I like to think Pawpaw Ray would have had a "live and let live" system with them. I have fed them flower petals in captivity just to see if they would eat it (they did), but I doubt there's as much nutrition there as is in the leaves. Okay, here's some pics I took last month.



So today I wanted to see if those flowers set fruit yet. FYI, they bloomed pretty late this year. Once again, I blame El Nino. I did see some fruits today, but they're still tiny. I assume you could eat the fruits, but I've never tried it. I don't think they'd harm you, but I don't know that they'd taste good, either. They do have the same growth habit as their tree cousin. The fruits tend to grow in clusters. They're also shaped the same, but they only get to be 3-4 inches long.



You can see I've still got some waiting to do. I'll update you when I harvest some. Until then, I plead the Fifth on everything!

My best paw paw flower pic -

Thank you Melanie and jmorth. I now know a lot more about paw paws than I did this morning. Any day that I can learn something new is a good day.

Yay, we're learning, there's milkweed on the banner, and my new camera is charging! I bought it as a package with all the fun accessories, some of which I'm not sure I'll ever use. But the price was cheaper than if I bought the camera alone! Unfortunately, we're supposed to have pretty good rain chances tomorrow through Saturday. But I can always test out the camera on my caterpillars! I moved the Pipevine Swallowtails into a bigger condo tonight so I think they owe me a photo shoot.

Oh, and I forgot to mention this but one of my Zebra Longwings up and pupated on me! No warning! I mean, it was on the lid last night when I cleaned the tank but it wasn't in it's J so I thought it was just looking for fresher food. And then this morning when I was checking on everyone, it was a chrysalis! Also, my big Red Admiral made his J and should be pupating soon. He's in his nest so I can only see part of him, but once the chrysalis is made and dried, I'll open up the nest and take pictures.

Melanie, this is the paw paw that grows up here - native - IMPOSSIBLE to find for sale either @ native nurseries or online anywhere.
Slimleaf Pawpaw (Asimina longifolia)
It's hard to tell from your pics but I think this may be what you have down there. You would know better b/c of seeing yours in person. I think those leaves will elongate when they get more mature. If I recall correctly, that's what the ones I put in the db did - was started out more rounded & then elongated with maturity.

Charlotte, is it possible you could grow the Asimina triloba down on the riverbank?

Awesome. I'm so glad to see all of the conversation about Pawpaw. I have little seedlings growing, I think mine is the trees... will have to check now.

Melanie, my hubby is always laughing at me because apparently I cannot say Pawpaw correctly. He also called his grandpa pawpaw and is grandma mama... but there is a certain way they say it down there in deep south Texas where he grew up. More like pau-pau - short and sweet. I've been trying but I still cannot say it "correctly".

I'm excited about growing them for the fruit that I've never tasted (dh says it was his favorite childhood fruit) but also for the zebra swallowtail butterfly.

Here's a picture of my little seedlings.

They look great Christine

Finding this discussion to be very informative. So here's another question: is the paw paw in the citrus family? So it's a larval host plant for swallowtail? I grow wafer ash (hop trees) and get swallowtail larva on those.
And no, Ann, could not plant trees on the river bank. We get major floods where the water can rise 30 - 45 feet. It would be washed away. I've seen the current carry off full-grown pecan trees. Only the huge, old bald cypress trees survive.
In this photo, the trees in the background are the "river bank".

GrammaChar said:Finding this discussion to be very informative. So here's another question: is the paw paw in the citrus family? So it's a larval host plant for swallowtail? I grow wafer ash (hop trees) and get swallowtail larva on those.
And no, Ann, could not plant trees on the river bank. We get major floods where the water can rise 30 - 45 feet. It would be washed away. I've seen the current carry off full-grown pecan trees. Only the huge, old bald cypress trees survive.
In this photo, the trees in the background are the "river bank".

Oh. I guess you won't be growing the tree then.

I don't think it has anything to do with citrus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Wafer Ash is larval host to Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail .

Paw paw is the only larval host for the ZEBRA Swallowtail.
Caterpillar Hosts: Shrubs of the genus Asimina (pawpaw) in the Annonaceae family. Young plants are preferred.
http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

Yes, Annonaceae family. I was too lazy to look it up the other day. But like I mentioned, it's the only plant in that family that grows in North America. All the others are more tropical plants. Soursop is in the same family. I remember there was a guy that sold them at a few of the USF plant sales claiming Zebra Swallowtails would use them as a host plant, but I didn't quite believe him. Plus, I like to keep things native, anyway.

And speaking of that, the ISB Atlas of Vascular Plants says the following species grow in my county: A. incana, A. obovata, A. parviflora, A. pygmea, and A. reticulata. Parviflora and Pygmea have maroon flowers like A. triloba, and I know I've never seen that before. So that leaves the other three. Obovata is known as "Big Flower Pawpaw" and looking at the pictures, the leaves and the flower just don't look right. So I think I have either A. incana or A. reticulata. I know I once thought I must have two different kinds because while the vast majority of them bloom around February, I once saw some blooming late in the fall. I've also seen them in other parks I've visited, so it's entirely possible I've seen more than one kind.

BAMONA must be talking about A. triloba on their Zebra ST page. Young plants are too small to support even one caterpillar to full growth if you're talking about the bush kind. But they will lay eggs on the new growth, regardless of plant size. And the new growth is usually at the tops or down in the middle of the plant.

Christine, I have a pretty good "West Virginian to plain English" translator and there are still things that make me go "huh"? Grandma keeps saying agin' when she means "against" and it always takes me a second to get the difference. And if my dad ever put the "s" on specific, I would die of shock.

I've never seen Zebra Swallowtails here...and of course, the host plants don't grow here! I have Hop Trees also and they're used by Giant Swallowtail and Two-tailed Tiger Swallowtail. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail only uses my black cherry trees and the native ash tree, at least so far.

Looks like there won't be a paw paw tree in my future. I'll just have to enjoy the pictures that others get of the Zebras. Saw this Buckeye in the pasture this morning.

Ooh, that Buckeye looks fresh! So pretty. I just took a bunch of pictures with my new camera so I'm going to download them and see what I've got!

Oooo yes, fresh! What a beautiful Buckeye!

I'm going to go sleuthing on the paw paw Melanie.

Whew, I played with my new camera and had a glass of Peach Lemonade. Things are all right in the world.

First up, I was checking my host plants when I saw frass on the Rue. (Frass is insect poop.) I got excited, but then suspicious because that frass is pretty big. I would see a caterpillar that size. And sure enough, on my nearby Salvia 'Black and Blue" I found a Tussock Moth.



I then checked the Pipevine, and because it's growing through the fence, I walked around to check the little bit that's growing on the other side. Good thing I did because I found two eggs and one just-hatched baby caterpillar! They eat their egg as their first meal so that's what he's doing.



I didn't want to lose anyone, so I brought the cats back in the house. And while I was in there, I took photos of everyone! The smaller of the Red Admiral cats is about to molt again. See how his head capsule is detached and he's forming a new (and larger) one underneath?



The other one became a chrysalis!



One chrysalis that always gets a lot of attention at MOSI is the Zebra Longwing. Yeah, they look crazy. And people are always like, "Are those horns on it?" I think it's just trying to look scary.



The other Zebra Longwing is still a caterpillar. You can see where the shed skin is from the other one that made the chrysalis.



My Pipevine Swallowtails are looking plump and juicy! And I mean that in a good, healthy way. I love fat caterpillars!



Break time was over so I went back outside. I found a few Gulf Fritillary cats in need of transport to a larger plant.



Duskywings are back! I hadn't thought about it until I saw this one, but it's been a while. They really get mad if I don't have Spanish Needles for them. I've seen them on other plants, but that seems to be their favorite.



My Ceraunus Blues are looking a little worn!



This Dainty Sulphur was giving me fits. Would not hold still!



The whole time I was out there I saw a Gulf Frit that seemed like it wanted to lay eggs, but kept dancing all around the Corkystem Passion Vine but never actually landing on it and laying an egg. It finally stopped for one second to hit up the P. 'Lavender Lady'. Then, it went back to flying around the host plant like it couldn't quite figure out what to do.

Hey you Texans, the Asimina parviflora or smallflower pawpaw is native in Texas.
http://plants.usda.gov/core/pr...
It likes damp locations and has the maroon colored flowers.
Dwarf Pawpaw (Asimina parviflora)
https://bwwellsassociation.wor...

Incredible photos, Melanie. Is that your new camera? Golly, I'd love to walk around your yard with you....well, actually you are giving me a *virtual* tour, right? Thanks for sharing all of your babies with us.
Hmmm....'native Texas", Ann. That covers a LOT of territory from Baytown to Midland. Many different climates from hot and humid in Houston to desert in El Paso. Sadly, no place on my property qualifies as "damp".
Found the first monarch caterpillar on an antelope horn milkweed when I went out to get the mail. Seems like these plants are a favorite of hairstreaks as well.