Wild pawpaw in Ontario?

Has anyone observed pawpaw growing in the wild in Ontario? I'm not asking for your specific spot if you have seen them! I'm just curious because I saw a picture of their range that included a little bit of SW Ontario.


From the website: http://www.nababutterfly.com/Pawpaw.html


From the website: http://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/atlas/tree/niche.php?spp=367&t=2

Thank you,

Amjad

they grow in the Arboretum in Guelph, I have picked them in the fall, delicious fruit!

[T]here are eight known remnant stands in this region, in Lakeshore, Amherstburg, Kingsville and Leamington. Their locations are top secret to protect them. All but one are on private property, but Bissonnette and designated growers have a “gentlemen’s agreement” allowing them to harvest the fruit so they can plant the seeds.

Info on Dan Bissonnette

I've read and heard that there are also wild pawpaw stands in the Niagara Peninsula. I'm going hunting for some next month, actually. I don't want to harvest so much as to get wild Ontario seed.

I've never ordered from these guys but they are just south of Montreal so the should be good to go for your zone.

http://www.greenbarnnursery.ca/pages/agroforestry-seeds

Hope that helps, if you do try them out please let us know!  I'll hopefully be ordering some myself to try out in NW Ont, it's a little colder there but who knows...

Hi, There are plenty in toronto ravines  apparently they like shady edges and prefer to start fully protected by shade. I see them for sale, forraged and sold at farmers markets occasionally in season. they are our version of tropical fruit, lovely.

Haven't seen them in the wild but the local conservation authority planted some in their "edible forest" in Cornwall. Apparently they'll grow anywhere along the St Lawrence.

Sorry not wild.

You can order (waiting list for 2020) a pair of PawPaw trees here if you live in Toronto, Ajax and York Region.

https://www.yourleaf.org/shrubs-garden-kits-and-pawpaws

i took a drive out to guelph in the fall
i was expecting a small wild stand.. but there are only 3 trees which are small
speaking with someone in the visitor centre (who was very knowledgeable)
he said that a frost in the spring left them with only a couple fruits this year

it was nice to walk around in the rain for a couple hours at near freezing temperatures though!

The only place I would expect to find them is in the fruit growing area near st. Catharines Ontario and along the shore of Lake Erie, which is the northernmost tip of the Carolina Forest. The only places I've seen them growing in the wild is right near the lake near a park called Happy Rolph's. I think he donated the place. It's on the side of the canal toward Niagara on the Lake .The other place is Beaver Dam's Road near Lake Gibson, the city's water supply.

Dale,

Can you be more specific as to where these locations are?  I am heading to St Catharines soon and would like to check the locations out.

Dale Hodgins wrote:The only place I would expect to find them is in the fruit growing area near st. Catharines Ontario and along the shore of Lake Erie, which is the northernmost tip of the Carolina Forest. The only places I've seen them growing in the wild is right near the lake near a park called Happy Rolph's. I think he donated the place. It's on the side of the canal toward Niagara on the Lake .The other place is Beaver Dam's Road near Lake Gibson, the city's water supply.

i use this to locate many plants, sometimes successfully, sometimes not https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=50897

From what I understand, Inaturalist hides the locations of endangered/species at risk plants.

There is a good sized stand of about 40 small trees
at the RBG Arboretum if you go late May early June
you can't miss the large simple leaves and blood red
flowers.  

Take the trail east of the interpretative centre. They
are on your left at the trail intersection at the bottom of the
slope.

Leave only footprints, take only photos.

If you are looking for you own I would suggest Grimo nut
www.grimonut.com

Since they not self fertilizing you will want to get two

Burlington Bill

I planted six seeds a few days ago in one gallon pots. I bought them from Foraged Farmed Fresh. He has a facebook page and he's a member of Ontario native plant gardening fb group.

I have personally found 4 wild patches. One in Point Pelee, two at opposite ends of Kent County, and one in Elgin County. Three of these are documented, and one is a new patch that just started growing recently. There's also a place called Turin Paw Paw Woods, but despite scouring the place, I could not find any - makes me wonder if they've misidentified a young Sassafras patch (of which there were many) as pawpaws?

Ojibway Prairie in Windsor has some planted trees - I assume from wild seeds.

And I've seen footage of other patches but do not know their location, I know there are patches in Niagara Region. Apparently in Haldimand-Norfolk too.

I'll be trying to plant some from wild seeds here in Wellington County so check back in 10 years. :P

There was a large patch of native PawPaws on Pelee Island when I was staying there, on private property that all seemed to have spread from suckers off a single tree as it didn't produce fruit despite an abundance of flowers in the spring.  I also planted a half dozen  cultivated varieties fro. Whiffletree grown on rootstock on another property but who knows if any survived.  There's also a couple around Guelph/Puslinch on private property that I know of, they're beautiful trees although I've yet to see any fruiting.

Jumping in for visibility.
I have a baby(year old) paw paw I germinated on a lark. If anyone in southern ontario (Hamilton area) has the space for it and hopefully other pawpaw so it can be a part of a fruiting cycle it will be looking for a new home in spring.

J Fortin wrote:There was a large patch of native PawPaws on Pelee Island when I was staying there, on private property that all seemed to have spread from suckers off a single tree as it didn't produce fruit despite an abundance of flowers in the spring.  I also planted a half dozen  cultivated varieties fro. Whiffletree grown on rootstock on another property but who knows if any survived.  There's also a couple around Guelph/Puslinch on private property that I know of, they're beautiful trees although I've yet to see any fruiting.

I found a small patch in Essex, so that's up to 5 now. 4/5 of the ones I'm familiar with have fruited. The Point Pelee one is the one without fruit. 3 of the patches have fairly large trees, up to about 35ft for the tallest one, and 6-7" diameter for the thickest.

In my backyard, I have 5 trees in 4 spots (2 smallest ones are close to each other and might need to get thinned eventually). Two from Whiffletree (Overleese + NC1), 3 seedlings. I keep all the seeds from fruits I gather in the wild and sell the seedlings. The NC1 already has its first 2 fruit this year, despite only having been in-ground since spring 2024. I think the Overleese (transplanted spring 2025) might have fruits in 2027 since I see the buds. The largest seedling was germinated in 2023, and transplanted in spring 2025 after being raised in a large tall pot, and it has grown very rapidly this year (by 2.5-3ft), so it's already about 4ft tall after just 4 seasons of growth since germinating, so at this rate it should start producing soon. I also had a damaged seedling I planted in fall 2024 as a "guinea pig" before planting my stronger one to see how it would fare in the winter, and it survived. So winters 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 haven't done any damage to my trees in Zone 5 (Wellington County). Those winters both had lots of snowpack though for insulation, this winter might have less.