Largest Paw Paw tree in State of NJ Grows in Cranbury
Cranbury has a long and honorable history of honoring its trees. For ten years now, Cranbury has been named a “Tree City” and proudly displays signs stating this. Cranbury now has yet another arboresque reason to be proud. It is the home of the largest Paw Paw tree in the entire state of New Jersey!
New Jersey’s Big Trees was published a few months ago by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Parks and Forestry. On page 4 is an entry for Asimina triloba, otherwise known as Paw Paw tree. This Paw Paw tree resides on CHA property on Maplewood Avenue between #10 and #14. The entry in the book includes information about Paw Paw trees, the size, county, and location.
A tree must be the largest tree of its species to makes it into the book. At 31 feet, the Cranbury Paw Paw is the largest in the state and well above the Paw Paw average mature size of 20 feet! Only 100 New Jersey trees made it into the book.
Paw Paws were a food staple for native Americans (the name is Arawak) who spread them to the Midwest, Canada, and the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, clumps of Paw Paws often mark the location of Native American villages. Perhaps this one marked the location of the Lenape nation village.
Many of Cranbury’s long-time residents have fond memories of this Paw Paw tree – Wayne and Ethel Stahl still come by to collect and eat the fruit; Fred Nixon and Agnes Wilson remember the tree as children; and Jean Weidner mentioned the tree in the Cranbury Press 'Cranbury Remembers' series).
The Division of Parks and Forestry spends years conducting research for the book. Author David Johnson personally visited, measured, and took photos of the Paw Paw tree as well as the other trees in the book. He, and editor Amy Cradic, recheck trees from previous years to ensure that they haven't died or been destroyed. "Between publishings a decent amount are lost and we're trying to address this. Unfortunately, many of these trees are not in our jurisdiction," said Johnson. Johnson knows of no other Paw Paws in the area and told me that this is the farthest north he's ever seen one. He was surprised to find such a mature and large Paw Paw in an area with houses and development. "I find it strange that it's a remnant still alive - especially in an area with houses and development," said Johnson. "This is a unique situation, this tree clump shouldn't be disturbed for development purposes."
Unhappily, the Cranbury Paw Paw’s fate is in question. The empty .2 acre lot is owned by the CHA who may use it for affordable housing. When they purchased the land for building, the CHA had no way of knowing that it also purchased such a valuable and raretree.
Copies of New Jersey's Big Treescan be found in the Cranbury Library and the Cranbury History Center. You can also order copies directly from the Division of Parks and Forrestry for $5.00 each (609-984-0378).