Save the Paw Paw

Did you know the Paw Paw Tree is only threatened in New York State?

Did you know that next to Willows, the Paw Paw is one of the most effective shrubs/trees in controlling erosion?

Not only are the Paw Paw fruits delicious, they were a favorite desert of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who planted a Paw Paw Grove at Monticello.

Native Americans in the Northeast, Abenaki, Iroquois, Mohawk all used the Paw Paw’s fibrous inner bark for making ropes, fishing nets and mats as well as fishing string.

Logs of the Paw Paw make excellent fencing

Paw Paw leaves have a natural insecticide, the only know insect to feed on the leaves is the Zebra swallowtail butterflies larvae.  This transfers the acetogenins to the larvae making them unpalatable to birds or other predators.

The seeds have been shown to contain the chemicals and 4-hydroxytrilobin. These chemicals seem to have selective cytotoxicity against prostate adenocarcinoma (PC-3) and colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) cell lines, thus may become a useful chemotherapeutic chemical for these types of cancer.

The bark of pawpaw trees contains other acetogenins, including asimin, asiminacin and asiminecin, which have been shown to be potent inhibitors of mitochondrial NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, making A. triloba a promising source of pesticide and anti-tumour compounds.

Paw Paw trees do not smell nice, similar to Ginkgo (Maidens Hair).  Just do not plant next to a window.

The seeds of the Paw Paw were often carried by colonial troops to throw into brush to distract the British when pebbles were not always available.

So how about trying to re-establish a once dominant fruit tree back in New York?