By Katy Gorsuch

Pawpaw harvest; photo by Francis Smith, Maryland Forest Service

In the ongoing human quest to connect to the land and to ourselves, many of us turn to food gardening. Getting your hands dirty as a way to figuratively and literally “touch grass” is as old as humanity itself, but what can you do to help our native wildlife at the same time?

Native fruits to the rescue!

We’ve written before about native plants as sources for human food, but here’s a topic extension featuring our favorite Maryland fruit trees.

Pawpaw

Look! Up there in the branches! It’s a custard apple, it’s an Appalachian banana, it’s a….Regardless of what you call them, pawpaws (or paw-paws, or paw paws, etc.) are one of the most well known of native North American fruits. It’s impossible to fully encompass the cultural importance of the fruit (Asimina triloba), which was cultivated by indigenous peoples and quickly adopted by European colonists. The fruit appears again and again throughout United States history, from Jamestown to the Lewis and Clark expedition, to traditional Appalachian folk songs.

Ripe Asimina triloba by Sarah Stierch (CC BY 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

The taste has been compared to countless other fruits, but perhaps the most tenacious description is in the colloquial name “custard apple” which perfectly describes the texture of a ripe pawpaw. The short shelf life of a pawpaw also points to this name – a ripe pawpaw is tender to the touch, and its color can be anywhere from green to full brown. Its shape resembles a mango, and the inside flesh is a vivid gold color. Opening the fruit reveals a line of brown seeds that may vary in size, but generally are about the length of a small paperclip. The seeds and skin are not edible, but the fruit can be eaten or frozen. 

Growing pawpaws from seed is less complicated than you might expect. While many people choose to cold-stratify the seeds inside their fridge over the winter, simply popping them into the soil before winter begins is just as effective (and saves fridge space). Pawpaw saplings prefer partial shade, but as they grow they will produce more fruit in full sun. These trees grow well along rivers, and while they can get as tall as 40 feet, they tend to cluster together and are considered an understory tree. Notably, they are deer resistant. In fact, the National Park Service has found that of monitored pawpaw saplings, less than 1% showed signs of deer browsing (for comparison, 27% of the total of all monitored saplings showed deer browsing). Deer seem to actively avoid the tree, which also is influencing an increase in pawpaws’ growth as deer seek other young plants to eat instead.

A cluster of pawpaw in the Chagrin Valley, Ohio; photo by Liliumoryza (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Pawpaws need another plant nearby in order to cross-pollinate, and their flowers attract flies and beetles as pollinators. While pawpaw leaves do not appeal to deer, the foliage will feed a wide variety of other Maryland wildlife and is a caterpillar host for zebra swallowtail butterflies, as well as several impressive and beautiful moth species.

Pawpaws generally become ripe in the first through third weeks of September in Maryland, and once ripe, begin to drop from the tree. The fruits vary from about 2-6 inches in length, and can grow in bunches of two or more (larger clusters of the fruits may include five or more).

American Persimmon

Ripe American persimmon in Virginia; photo by Judy Gallagher (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Less well known than its more marketable cousins, the American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) has a charm all its own. Used in diverse ways historically as both a medicine and food, the tree is often overlooked in favor of the more cultivated relatives found in stores. But that doesn’t stop the home-grown love of the native fruit; in fact, it has been proposed as the official state fruit of Maryland.

The persimmon may grow much taller than the pawpaw (up to 60 feet), but such heights are less common. Like the pawpaw, it thrives in well-drained soil and tolerates shade well.

American persimmon flowering along the C&O Canal; photo by Fritzflohrreynolds (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons

The American persimmon is generally dioecious, meaning that each tree produces either male or female flowers, and so requires another plant nearby in order to pollinate. However, many cultivars of the American persimmon can produce fruit without being pollinated. The pollinators of American persimmons are widely varied and include many species of native bees.

The orange, golf-ball sized persimmons ripen in late fall in Maryland and the fruit will have a slight give to the skin when ready to eat. The fruits begin to dry quickly after the first frost. When persimmons are ripe, they come easily off the tree. When eaten before they are ripe, they are unpleasant (an understatement). The astringency of unripe persimmons may turn your mouth numb for at minimum the length of time it takes to make your way back to your car in search of water. While the feeling may fade, the memory never will. That said, when ripe, the persimmon is so tasty that even those of us who have experienced the numb feeling will still eat them readily. 

Even more species of Maryland wildlife enjoy the American persimmon as a food source, including serving as host to over 45 butterfly and moth species. Most famous among these is likely the luna moth, but the persimmon also hosts the majestic tersa sphinx moth and the vivid large necklace moth. Besides this, the persimmon is a late ripening fruit, meaning it is often one of the last available fruits for many birds and mammals before the proper onset of winter, and thus an important food source going into the coldest part of the year.

If you’re looking for a native fruit addition to your yard for the next growing season, consider one of Maryland’s peculiar and prolific possibilities! The John S. Ayton State Tree Nursery grows several native fruits and will soon begin taking orders for spring planting.

Read more about Maryland’s native fruits here:

Native Trees of Maryand: The Pawpaw

Food Forests Bring Fruit Harvests and Deeper Connections to Land

Agroforestry Spotlight: Edible Forest Trail

UMD: Starting a Home Fruit Garden

UMD: Less Common Fruits for a Home Garden