As the Natural Areas Inventory project wraps up its final
field season, our ecological land classification crew is still busy surveying
many of the natural areas throughout Hamilton. Over the years, our ELC teams have found many rare
and exciting species in our watershed, and this field season has been no
exception! Recently, the team was thrilled to discover a rare Carolinian tree
species known as Pawpaw.
Pawpaw, flowers through late May to early June in Ontario and
although the flowers are showy, with their six big red-purple petals, you might
be more likely to notice their smell first! Like many other plants, Pawpaws are
pollinated by insects, but instead of attracting bees, their flowers give off
the smell of carrion to attract fruit flies and beetles. Once the flowers are pollinated, they set
edible yellowish-green fruits that are full of big, shiny black seeds. These fruits can also have a different
flavour to them, depending on the conditions they grow in, and are said to
taste like custard, mangos, and even bananas.
The discovery of Pawpaw is an excellent find for the NaturalAreas Inventory project and the City of Hamilton for many reasons. First, adding
a new tree species to the list of those already found in the city is exciting for
Hamilton residents. Second, the discovery of a new Pawpaw population is
exciting at a province-wide scale, as these trees are usually found along the
northern coast of Lake Erie and throughout the Niagara Region.
Pawpaw is just one of
the many exciting finds resulting from the Natural Areas Inventory Project; don’t
forget to keep an eye on the website for more to come!
Jessica Consigilio
Ecological Land Classification Technician
Hamilton Conservation Authority
Ecological Land Classification Technician
Hamilton Conservation Authority
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