Plants

Pawpaw

| edwinridout

We hadn’t realized we had any pawpaw trees until yesterday, when I found these several fruits on the ground by the bench in the meditation garden. The leaves were familiar enough, although I had previously mistaken their trees for hickory saplings. Apparently both the skin and seeds are poisonous. Sandy cut two open for an inside photo, and we carefully tasted, spitting out the seeds. It’s somewhere between pineapple and banana. I went looking for more, and found the set on the left, below, at least long enough to snap the picture.

Mayapple

| edwinridout

I watch for these each spring in our back woods, and saw our first ones pop up two or three days ago. This morning, suddenly, there was a plethora. Didjaknow, just like the Aspen, their colony shares a single root? Mayapple is also called mandrake. It flowers in May, but its “apple” comes later. The fruit may be eaten in small quantities but only after it turns yellow, and only after removing the seeds. Linnaeus described this plant in 1753. See more at wildfoods.ca.