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.
