Not so far. I had something nab a few apples but that’s it. I have my eye on a squirrel that comes around sometimes and have a havahart trap ready for it if it gets greedy. I go out every evening to see if any pawpaws are soft enough that they will drop overnight and pick those. I’m beginning to get a good feel for that. I also go out each morning and grab any that have fallen so they don’t ripen too quick to give off odor and attract attention.
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There were a couple half eaten on the ground at Schenley. I bet it was a racoon or opossum.
That’s good to hear that the ones in Schenley actually fruited this yr.
Ryan
how big and how many schenley trees?
Also
opinion please:
do critters climb tree, knock off a few paw paws then return to ground to eat, or do they only go after fallen ones?
I think they climb tree, knock off, then eat once fallen.
Would like to know if groundhog, raccoon or possum.
@jaunders1 @TJ_westPA
They were pretty decent sized fruit, larger than the ones I found in Morgantown and Ohiopyle. There are probably over 50 trees there, some are huge (30’+)
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Thanks to whoever planted them years ago that we can enjoy them today.
Or thank mother nature!
I do believe, based on some information on one of the foraging apps I’ve recently gained knowledge about, that the patches in Schenley were propagated by the folks who planted the trees in Squirrel Hill. That being said, I did plant a few more seeds I found at the Schenley patch to extend it while I was there. We, collectively, should work on more patches all over the city so it’s not as hard to find a good pawpaw.
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If anyone wants purple tree collard cuttings PM me (local pickup). One of my tree collards fell over. I’m rooting some for myself but there’s plenty more.
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Hi! Someone told me about this group because I have a specific interest in restoring zebra swallowtails to Pittsburgh. Zebra swallowtails disappeared from the Pittsburgh area sometime during the early to mid 20th century for reasons. The zebra swallowtail uses pawpaw trees as their host plant. Zebra swallowtails still exist in about an hour drive from Pittsburgh.
I have been searching for wild pawpaw patches from where the zebra swallowtail stops to Pittsburgh. I have been following rail trails and waterways. I think that there’s some people here that might be helpful in my work.
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Hey Gabrielle, that was me! Welcome to the forum! I believe it was @jaunders1 who showed me the falling fruit app and that has a couple pawpaw patches. @JustPeachy mentioned inaturalist for another area but it shows a lot more locations currently versus falling fruit. I think it would be great to add more locations to the map as we collectively find them, on whichever app we decide to go with. I know of at least two locations not currently on the maps but one of them is on private property (I just found it on Tuesday!) @urbangardener and myself have plans to introduce patches in a few parks local to us. I’m east of the city near Irwin and he is in the south hills. I know @jaunders1 is planning to add some to his future homestead as well in the north hills, so we have the beginnings of a city-wide movement. I grabbed a decent harvest from Schenley this year and planted seeds while I was there to expand the patch. I have a feeling there are more of us working towards replacing the streambank knotweed with pawpaws than we may realize.
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I have been primarily using iNaturalist for research and documenting as I find things but I also have gotten lots of tips. I have come to believe that pawpaws used to be much more common than is currently believed, especially areas heavily impacted by industry and fossil fuel extraction, NWPA in particular which had the first oil boom bake in the 1860s. I have collected seeds from 5 or 6 counties which are currently being stratified. I intend to plant them along targeted pathways for Zebra Swallowtail Trails. I hope to see the zebra swallowtail back in Pittsburgh before I die. The photo shows how close zebra swallowtails are to Pittsburgh along our main rivers and Chartiers Creek. Waterways are the most natural pathways for pawpaw trees. I bought a kayak to aid in my quest and it has been worth the investment.
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@Gobbism is a prime example why there will be more on observations and users on iNaturalist than falling fruit. The latter is only used by people interested in foraging. This is quite different compare to iNaturalist, which is used by people anyone interested in identification, this encompasses general naturalists, foragers, hikers, botanists, ornithophiles, entomophile, etc…
You might want to sync up with the local conservation group or restoration project. Often times the local authorities can get rather picky about planting in parks, even if you’re just technically reintroducing established native fauna.
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Whenever I find a patch of pawpaws, I note whether or not they have fruit. Fruit however is not my priority though to me it indicates whether or not the patch needs help. It has been my experience that they tend to be isolated around here, but as I get closer to where the zebra ranges, that they are denser and that there’s fruit, often a bit larger. Anyway, I am seeking people to help me to search, plant, and other things that will help the pawpaws to get re-established. I probably won’t be doing much more now but next April I might try to hand pollinate a few non fruiting patches. This includes kayaking.
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I have been actively contacting a number of groups. I’m still trying to figure out how to make my case. My first audience was a representative of the western Pennsylvania conservancy and I think that I was talking to the wrong department but I also didn’t know exactly what to say. I am learning as I go.
If you want to do everything on the up and up, go talk to the “friends of [insert name] park” or the [insert name] restoration project. They are usually in charge of collecting seed and new plantings at the local state and county forest preserve. These are usually all volunteers, typically retirees that are bird or moth/butterfly watchers. In Illinois, the over branching org is called the Volunteer Stewardship Network. In PA, this is called the Land Stewardship network under the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association.
There’s a section at the PN DNR for getting involved. @Gobbism You should look to connect with one of these groups. There should be something similar you can find for the county or township level.
In the long run, this would be a bad plan. Let me explain why. First, you’re going to be running up and down stretches of river hand pollinating. Once you and or your volunteers are no longer involved [either due to age or interest], the fruiting stops. It’s far more effective to move genetic stock around, like seedlings, saplings, suckers and seeds to promote the environment for them to fruit on their own. This will have an ecological impact lag, because you won’t see results immediately until the genetically different saplings come into fruiting age. However, you can address this by taking scion from mature pawpaw trees say upriver and grafting them to mature pawpaws downriver, and vice versa. This will address the pollination problem for the following year. I would also do this to emerging suckers too, since the main truck will die and the grafting sucker will eventually take it’s place.
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Gabrielle, I have close to two dozen pawpaw seedlings with premium genetics growing in a couple of Home Depot buckets. I may have room for two in my garden (okay, it’s a delusion, I don’t) but I need to find home for the rest of them. Please let me know if you have any candidate spots for planting. I’d be happy to join you on a field trip next spring.
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My motive is to get fruit from one season and propagate from the seeds from that season. Honestly, if I attempt this, I am inclined to keep it on foot except for one isolated patch inaccessible except by boat. Most of my sources produce at least a little fruit. I don’t think that I would do this every year. Ideally I collect 25 seeds from a patch. I am categorizing them by waterway. Anyway, I have yet to search them all in part because my boats aren’t good on rougher waters and I haven’t had time.
Roger. What I mean is that either way, that is a lot of pawpaw trees to hand pollinate. Even one tree is a lot of work once they get mature.
Is the purpose of propagating from seed to establish more patches? Or to help pollination at each site? Either way, I think you could address both faster and easier by moving seedlings and suckers between sites (or establish new sites).
When you visit existing patches (especially that isolated one you mention by boat), you should be able to find seedlings from dropped seed that came from animal consumed or rotted fruit. If it’s within 10 ft of the main truck, it’s probably a sucker. Either transports pretty well in the spring (for me at least, since I only move and replant within 10 minutes).
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Seems like you have quite a passion for this! Allegheny land trust manages an island in the Allegheny river near blawnox called sycamore island. It is undeveloped and managed as a nature preserve. Might be worthwhile reaching out to them to see about planting some trees there. Looks like it would be prime pawpaw habitat. Maybe they have some funding sources or volunteers to help you out.
Another group that might be worth contacting is tree Pittsburgh. I’m not 100% sure but they might provide alot of the trees planted in city parks. I always get kinda annoyed when I see volunteer groups around town planting trees in parks. They are always non fruiting species (sweet gum, sycamore, etc). They always plant them so densely (like every 2 feet) that makes me wonder if they have any long term perspective. Maybe someone could plant an idea in their head that pawpaws and persimmons are native and great for wildlife.
For what it’s worth, metroparks in Cleveland seem to have pawpaw on their list of trees they commonly plant in their public parks.
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I have some contacts at WPC. I will reach out to them and see what they have in place for any projects like this. I’m always advocating for pawpaw plantings at the various job sites I’ve worked at in recent years since discovering them.
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