What is it Wednesday: November 17, 2021

 

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

November 17, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

 

These strange looking fruit are paw paws, from a tree at Lutherlyn’s Terra Dei homestead. 

Paw paws are the largest edible fruit native to North America. They are most abundant throughout Appalachia, and at Lutherlyn we are near the northernmost edge of their native range in Pennsylvania. Paw paws are a small understory tree which, in the wild, often grows in lowlands near water. Inside the leathery skin, the fruit has a texture like avocado and tastes a bit like a combination of banana and pear. Once they are ripe, they bruise easily and are only good to eat for a few days.

We have found that here, they often ripen late in the fall, and with this year’s warm fall weather there are some still just ripening even after the leaves have fallen from the tree. This year's harvest is the most fruit we have gotten from our trees yet. We have two trees - one planted about 20 years ago, and one a little more recently, maybe about 15 years ago. One tree has started producing a lot (increasing gradually over the last five or so years, to this year's abundance) and one still has only a few fruit on it every year. 

Paw paws flowers are dark burgundy rather than a bright color, and have a faint and slightly unpleasant scent instead of a strong sweet fragrance. Because of this, they are primarily pollinated by insects such as flies and beetles instead of other more typical pollinators like bees and butterflies. If the right types of pollinators are not around, little or no fruit is produced - as a result, sometimes people assume paw paw trees need a pair in order to produce fruit. One paw paw tree alone can produce fruit, but only if the right pollinators are present. It may take a while for the trees to mature enough to produce lots of flowers, and for the pollinators to be aware they are in the area and be attracted to them - but when they do, the result is lots of delicious paw paws! 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!