What tree is this?

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  • indyjohn

    PATRIOT
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    77   0   0
    Dec 26, 2010
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    In the trees
    Or plant? I have this in patches all over the place, at 2 ft. tall to more than 12 ft. tall. It may be a Hickory variety but I'm not sure.

    Thanks for you help!

    20170919_144102sm2.jpg
     

    Hkindiana

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    Sep 19, 2010
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    Southern Hills
    PawPaw tree, akso known as "Indiana Banana" trees. PawPaws are pollinated by flies instead of bees, so if you want LOTS of PawPaw fruit, put road kill under the trees in early spring
     

    eric001

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    Apr 3, 2011
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    Indianapolis
    Indegenous? Check. Valuable?? Dunno--to me the pap paw "banana" type fruits always kind of tasted like soap.

    If I wasn't cussing before biting into one, I was after. Gave up on 'em after just a few tries.
     

    POC

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    Apr 17, 2010
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    West Baden, IN
    It will take a few years before that tree will produce any fruit. They flower in the spring with a small, down-turned, brown flower. They are not pollinated by bees, but rather carrion flies. They also share a root system, in actuality they are one organism. So they can not be pollinated one tree to another that share a root system. *SO*, you need to find another group of those trees a little ways off with which to pollinate them. Hang some rotting meat near them to attract the flies.

    You can pollinate them with a small paintbrush, like artist paintbrush, not a 1/2" one from the hardware, try Ben Franklin or the like. Find the most open flowers in the spring time, dab at the inside of them with your little brush to collect pollen, do this on a few flowers. Now go to that other patch of trees and dab at the most open flowers to deposit the pollen on the pistil of the other flower. You'll have to make several trips, or have several brushes.

    In early October the fruit will begin to ripen, they are about the size of a medium sized potato and green. When they are ripe the will fall off the tree and the animals will come running to eat them. So, what I do is wait till they are almost ripe, pick them and take them to the house and put them in a paper bag on the table for them to finish ripening. They will develop black spots on them and be soft to the touch, like when an avocado is ripe, that is when you want to eat them. They are FULL of large seeds so be careful when eating them. One of my first memories is swallowing one of those seeds as a little kid.

    So there ya go. :D
    Hit me up with any more questions.
     

    Leadeye

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    Jan 19, 2009
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    .
    Paw Paws make an excellent white wine, I'm always trying to beat the other forest creatures to them when they ripen.
     

    Restroyer

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    May 13, 2015
    1,187
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    SE Indiana
    Paw Paws make an excellent white wine, I'm always trying to beat the other forest creatures to them when they ripen.
    That's cool - I had no idea you could make good wine from paw paws. I have a ton of paw paw trees but I don't like the fruit so I always let the critters eat it. I'm not a wine drinker either so the critters can still eat the paw paws but it's cool to learn something new on INGO almost every time I visit.
     

    indyjohn

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    Dec 26, 2010
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    In the trees
    We have a pretty good number of paw paw trees on the farm we lease but I have yet to see any fruit.

    We have a lot of mature trees producing acorns, walnuts, pig nuts, chestnuts (I think), but nothing like what Leadeye posted. But I have a bunch of what's in the pic everywhere.
     
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