It’s windy today and quite chilly, but the sun is out. Not a lot of birds so far as we wait at the trailhead for everyone to arrive. The wind on the trees sounds like rushing water. Throughout our hike, I noticed that the trail had a lot of fallen leaves. I learned that white snake root is toxic and as we made our way into the trail, I noticed that by the time we got to the puff shroom (the first one we ever encountered as a class) there were a lot more birds singing in the trees. As we made our way out on the prairie, I learned that prairies help with global warming, which I was completely unaware of. Some of my classmates and I had conversations about a documentary I enjoyed watching on Netflix called Fantastic Fungi when we entered the woods again from the prairie. Christian spotted a little snake resting in the plants above the ground and Tiffinnie spotted some pawpaw fruit. We were able to get a hold of some of the fruit and taste it; it tasted like a mix between bananas and pears. I was able to take one home with me and it was nearly falling apart by the time I got home. I separated the seeds from the pulp/rest of the fruit and cleaned them, discovering that they are enveloped in a pulpy sack, much like us and other creatures before birth (pictures of seed in sack in gallery). They’re dark cherry brown with a line of black running down the middle. The pulp smells sweet like guayabana. I actually looked into it and found that pawpaw or Asimina triloba is in the same family as soursop (guayabana), which is in the Annonceae family, which also includes sweetsop, custard apple, cherimoya, and ylang-ylang. This made me really smile because I love these fruits, which grow in my parent’s home countries. Now I have my own tropical fruit from my homeland (Ohio). This connection further proves what I learned in the Indigenous Association at school, how original people may have brought pawpaw up with them from down south.
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AuthorWelcome! My name is Yasel and this is my Campus Woods blog. Archives
October 2022
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