![]() ![]() Its leaves are tropical in appearance and reach up to 12 inches long, and its fruit varies in size. The paw paw is one of about 30 species whose natural range ends in Nebraska, according to Henrickson. “Whatever that age was, where we had the giant sloth and the giant bear, those are the critters that were moving these seeds, north and west. “Was it time that stopped them? Some of these fruits were being eaten by certain critters,” he said. Why? Henrickson said it’s anybody’s guess. The western edge of the paw paw’s natural range extends into the southeast portion of Nebraska. “The flesh we’re eating is just some serious superfood.” “It’s like nature’s powerhouse,” Nebraska Statewide Arboretum Assistant Director Bob Henrickson said. It is jam-packed with nutrients and health benefits. The paw paw is the largest fruit native to North America. Once ripe, it has a custard-like texture, yellowish interior color, and sweet taste, drawing comparisons to bananas, mangos, and pineapples. The trees reach about 20 feet tall and take five to seven years to bear fruit. Paw paw refers both to the tree and the green fruit it bears. “You just don’t see that type of leaf very regularly in a place like Nebraska, and so when you do see them in the landscape, it really pops out.” “They’re just a really attractive landscape plant,” he said. Paw paws, he said, work well in landscaping due to their unique foliage, edibility, and ecological value. Kindler, a sustainable landscape expert for the Nebraska Forest Service, has a passion for native plants. Louis and that area, coming down the Missouri, they’re eating paw paws.” “It really talks about how when they start to get back to St. “If you read the journals of Lewis and Clark, those guys ate paw paw on the way back,” Brad Kindler said. In the early 1800s, a pair of famous explorers relied on it near the end of a certain expedition across the Louisiana Territory. The paw paw fruit has been native to Nebraska and much of the Midwest for centuries. ![]()
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