Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Pawpaw Flower (From What's That Plant?) Asimina triloba.

This is at least so far,off site, the closest Pawpaw I know is Oregon Ridge and even there have not yet seen the flowers.  The trees there may be male (?).  The specimen was mid-May.

The flowers were in the yard on low bushes and not the trees usually depicted.  He did not mention fruit in the fall.  Apparently pollination can be in doubt for Pawpaws and the plants may need to be mature.

The  bloom was striking but already dried out, so the illustration is from the internet.  Unusual.  The second picture also from the internet is the fruit, as a reminder.  The largest native American fruit.  I have only tasted it a couple of times, despite being a Georgia native.  There may be some attempts to grow Pawpaws in Lake Roland, but the identity of the young wire enclosed plants are somewhat in doubt.
Check around the parking lot at Oregon Ridge next spring or look for the fruit there this fall.


An internet photo similar to one shown at Natural History Society. Pawpaw blossom.

Also internet photo of the large pawpaw fruit, plants were described as small bushes, not sure  of fruit

Flowers That Bloom on Tree Trunks --Cauliflory

This was not unfamiliar but I did not know there was a word for it.  Flowers can bloom from the trunks of trees, in this case the red bud.  It was short-lived, the photo is from May but you can still see the resulting fruits dangling from the trunk.

This is apparently more common in tropical plants and the redbud fits in a tropical category .  There may be a microscopic version of a twig under the flower.  It may be related to variations in pollination .   Check the redbuds along Rolandvue for the pods arising on large branches and the trunks.

Newer foraging books still note that the pods are barely edible but probably not worth the trouble, at least not toxic.


Flowers,and later fruit growing from trunk of redbud, cauliflory