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The Historic Paw Paw

Paw Paw fruit.
Scott Bauer, USDA, via Wikimedia Commons

  Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Professor Greg Reigland of Clemson deserves great credit for saving the southern peaches from peach tree short life disease. But his fascination for all things fruity doesn’t stop at peaches –he’s also passionate about the lowly paw paw. The range of this native small tree is from the center of the United States, up through Ontario, and down through Florida. It’s not economically important (doesn’t ship well) but in our cultural history it had tremendous impact. In 1541, A member of Desoto’s expedition waxed eloquently about this fruit (he ate 60 in one day) and gave it the common name paw paw because of its resemblance to the papaya. On the last 150 miles of their return journey, Lewis and Clark’s company had one biscuit a day and all the paw paws they could pick – and arrived in good health and fine spirits.

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Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.