this post was submitted on 20 May 2025
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Pawpaws. I moved somewhere that pawpaw trees are super common, and I started seeing trees everywhere. By harvest time, though, I couldn't find any fruit. It turns out that it spreads vegetatively, and it can't self-pollinate, so if it looks like you found a dozen trees, you most likely just found 1, and it will only produce fruit if flies visit the flowers after traveling from whereever another grove may be.
Later, I happened to be in the middle of a run through the woods, and I smelled a really strong tropical fruit smell. I found a grove that happened to be really well pollinated, so i got to eat a whole bunch and fill my pockets with more to bring home.
To this day, i still primarily find pawpaws by smell, not sight.
That is awesome. That's like North America's version of durian. One more reason to save the forest.
Oddly enough, in a lot of places pawpaws grow, they are becoming more common. The removal of natural predators and strict restrictions on hunting have lead to deer being overabundant. Deer eat the seedlings of many trees, but they don't eat pawpaw leaves. This is giving pawpaws an edge over other types of tree.
One recommended way to increase pollination of the trees is to spray the trees with a fish emulsion to attract flies, but I can't bring myself to create a spray bottle of fish and get myself covered in it while walking through the woods.