Sorry maybe that was a bad description. It was mild with some pineapple, pear, maybe a little melon.
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So I found wild fruit that was worth getting today for the first time. Here is the biggest one.
It seems to be a bit under ripe, I’ll update if it’s worth going back next year.
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2021 season notes
I am posting mainly for my own records but welcome any feedback the group can offer.
I marked each tree and recorded details such as size, seed content and flavor. I was able to share fruit with several pawpaw newbies as well as a seasoned vet and had each of them record their thoughts.
My pawpaw patch is in full shade and there are thousands of trees. Most taste good but are nothing more than average wild fruit. There are two very large pawpaw trees. They are over 30’ tall with very large trunks. They seem to be the parents of all of the better trees in this patch. The offspring seem to have a tropical flavor with some zing or acid and the seeds are very easy to remove.
The trees I’ve identified as worth looking at further are:
#9 Ripe last week of Aug.
Very tropical and fruity. Very sweet. A newbie described it as a mango, pineapple, coconut daiquiri with a pleasant raw sugar aftertaste. Good texture. 345g 21g seed 6% crowd favorite
#10 Ripe last week of Aug.
Nice floral notes. Mild but complex. @TrilobaTracker liked this one and detected some lavender flavor. Good thick texture but a little soft when we had it. 300g fruit low seed
#22 Last week of Aug. Productive. Average 300g +. Nice round fruit. Tropical flavor. Bubblegum. Low seed 6%. When perfectly ripe it has a very unique thick and sticky durian like texture according to @TrilobaTracker.
#17 Ripe the last week of August this season. Last year fruit was hanging till October.
Creamy vanilla and marshmallow with light floral and pineapple notes. 250-300g fruit 5-6% seed
#11 ripen in late aug- early September. Had nice fruit but animals got to them before I did.
13 & 14 are the large parent trees. The fruit from them was not as impressive as their offspring. But still good size and good taste. Maybe next season they will be better.
#2 really nice fruit with a color break. They are smaller though averaging 200g with very uniform size. Really good flavor. 8-9% seed which is a little high but the seeds remove cleanly and very easily.
#16 late September. Light flavor. Mild. Good texture.
I plan to graft these into my orchard and share with a friend or two and see how they do in full sun in multiple locations. I may share more seeds or scion in the future but have to do some testing first to see how they compare with other pawpaws already available and how they hold up in an orchard setting.
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Well done!! 
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Thanks Tracker! I’m glad you were able to try some earlier this season. We will have to do it again next year! I really appreciated your feedback!
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Somebody gave me 3 wild pawpaws last Sunday in Berea, KY and I ate two of them today…the other a bit past eating.
I thought they were all gone here a month ago, but somebody found some
And I’ll have to say one of them was perhaps the best I’ve had…better than 2 or 3 of the Peterson varieties.
Percentage of seed to total weight pretty large, but flavor excellent and no aftertaste/bitterness. (I prefer mild flavors and these were mild and definitely pleasant.)
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There are really good ones out there! We’re the fruit good size? Might be worth keeping the seeds. It seems like that part of KY is a hotspot for good pawpaws!
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I did save seed…the one that had only 5 seeds and tasted best gets special treatment as I’ll plan to grow them out. The other seeds I’ll save, and have them stratified for whatever I decide to do with them.
About 7 years ago tasted a wild one from the same neighborhood and loved it (tasted like a banana muskmelon). But, two years ago, the fruit from the same tree had a bitterness to it.
I think there’s something to be said in favor of late-fruiting pawpaws.
But, what do I know. I’ve been spending most of my time with apples.
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Neal’s friend here says you need three years of good productivity to evaluate a cultivar. I assume this equally applies to wild pawpaws. Mango last year was great. This year I found it to be hit or miss.
“Garage West” (one of the crosses here that needs a new name) was just “ok” last year (imo), but @TrilobaTracker and a few others says this was the bees knees this year.
I remember a few years ago tasting pawpaws in wild and they were pretty good. The next year those same pawpaws were meh.
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Late flowering/fruiting would be a very desirable trait considering climate changes resulting in frequent late frosts.
pawpaws are definitely variable and inconsistent in general. I agree that much evaluation is needed to confirm a good pawpaw. However, I do think it’s possible to arrive at a general description of a given cultivar’s flavor.
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B.S. I’ve seen frost in late May in the 1960’s and I’ve seen mom kill a copperhead snake crossing the sidewalk the day after Christmas … 1966 or 1967, I forget which. I’ve seen snow Oct 24 and I’ve picked tomatoes from the garden for Thanksgiving…30 to 40 years ago. Climate changing a recent thing? If you can’t question the science…it’s not science, it’s propaganda.
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No I hear you. I didn’t intend to invoke “global warming” theories in my post - I was more talking about the recent trend in the past few years of late freezes, and other odd weather such as 70s on Christmas Day here in TN.
Not suggesting this is part of manmade climate change one way or another.
Just in the time I’ve been growing plants, only about 7 years or so, I’ve noticed odd trends. But as you say they have happened before.
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Here is an interesting study being done on the genetic variation of pawpaw. There are less than 2 weeks left to participate. See details below.
https://mobile.twitter.com/PawpawScience
Pawpaw Fanatics!
Would anyone like to contribute to Pawpaw science?
We need only a few leaves and some seeds.
I am a PhD student conducting research into the genetic diversity and distribution range of the Pawpaw. Through my research we hope to be able to answer a few questions, such as;
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How can a member of an otherwise tropical fruit family can be found growing everywhere from Florida to Michigan, Kansas to Virginia?
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How related is the Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) to other *Asimina *species?
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And what role animal migration and/or Native America trade had on the Pawpaw’s distribution and adaptation to cold?
The results my studies will firstly scratch the greatest of itches; curiosity 
but also understanding the genetic diversity of the Pawpaw will inform help conservation and biodiversity programs (for both Pawpaw and the zebra swallowtail butterfly). We will be able to understand which Pawpaw patches have been where for thousands of years and which have been established in the last few centuries or more recently. Information which will be important for setting up bases for the conservation of this genetic resource for future generations
If people on here would be interesting in helping out, let me know in the comments and I can make a post with some instructions about sampling and shipping to Virginia Tech.
Happy Pawpaw hunting 
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If they were a bit earlier while leaves were still on the trees it would be helpful…
They have been collecting samples since last year. I just found out about it though. 
I sent samples in in August I believe. If anyone sees the published results in the future, please post it here. I don’t want to miss reading what the researcher discovers.
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Spring is on its way and it’s about time to get out and cut scion wood if you are in Tennessee. I spent a little time this week harvesting scion from some of the wild trees I’ve shared here. With a few tips from my friend @TrilobaTracker it wasn’t as complicated as I thought it was going to be. I’ve also got some named varieties of scion coming from several growers that I’m excited about. Now to learn how to graft 
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Exciting stuff!
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Good job @Vid! Just remember you probably don’t want to graft those pieces with flower buds as they are less likely to take. The buds between them should work well.
Rather - they are less likely to give you the vegetative growth you want to get more limbs of those genetics.
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Just rub those round flower buds off . They will be fine.
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