initially green, maturing by September or October to yellow or brown. When mature, the heavy fruits bend the weak branches down. Other characteristics: Calyx: Sepals three, valvate in bud, ovate, acuminate, pale green, downy Corolla: Petals six, in two rows, imbricate in the bud; inner row acute, erect, nectariferous; outer row broadly ovate, reflexed at maturity; petals at first are green, then brown, and finally become dull purple or maroon and conspicuously veiny Stamens: Indefinite, densely packed on the globular receptacle; filaments short; anthers extrorse, two-celled, opening longitudinally Pollen: Shed as permanent tetrads Pistils: Several, on the summit of the receptacle, projecting from the mass of stamens; ovary one-celled; stigma sessile; ovules many Branchlets: Light brown, tinged with red, marked by shallow grooves Winter buds: Small, of two kinds, the leaf buds pointed and closely appressed to the twigs, and the flower buds round, brown, and fuzzy Bark: Light gray, sometimes blotched with lighter gray spots, sometimes covered with small excrescences, divided by shallow fissures; inner bark tough, fibrous; bark with a very disagreeable odor when bruised Wood: Pale, greenish yellow, sapwood lighter; light, soft, coarse-grained and spongy with a specific gravity of 0.3969 and a density of Longevity of fruit production: Undetermined Range and ecology The pawpaw is native to the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern United States and adjacent Ontario, Canada, from New York west to southeastern Nebraska, and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. The tree is commonly found in the wild within floodplains and shady, rich bottomlands, but it requires somewhat elevated slopes because it has a deep-reaching taproot. Owing to its shallow, horizontally spreading stems (rhizomes), the species tends to become a clonal patch of small, leaning trees through time. (See photos at right.) Pawpaws are not the first to colonize a disturbed site, but because they are capable of growing in deep shade, they can establish from seed beneath mature hardwood trees and then spread into a subcanopy patch. They may even become dominant through time by depriving native canopy trees from re-establishing via seed after tree-fall, owing to the dense shade within a pawpaw patch. Under such circumstances, the pawpaw subcanopy becomes the forest canopy. Accessing full sunlight, the patch is then capable of producing more fruit. The fruits of the pawpaw are eaten by a variety of mammals, including raccoons, gray foxes, opossums, squirrels, and black bears. The strong-smelling leaves, twigs, and