Yeehaw, Paw Paw!

This spring, paw paw, or Asimina triloba had beautiful dark maroon flowers. Sadly, I have no picture for you. But then, right after school started, it looked like this.

Paw paw tree, with fruit

Then on the morning of September 17, I was sad that I couldn't find any, and assumed the squirrels had gotten them before me. But then I found an uneaten, ripe one on the ground. Penny included for size to show you that this is NORTH AMERICA'S LARGEST NATIVE FRUIT. And it's growing on our campus. Yeehaw, paw paw!

And I, at least, thought it was delicious. My students in Literature and the Land, who had to write about it during a sensory descriptive writing exercise--they were not so sure. A few brave souls get a lot of credit for testing that fifth sense: taste. 

Friends School of Baltimore's Native Plants Teaching Garden: not just for looking at, y'all.