Mary Foos Johnson Pawpaw

Mary Foos Johnson entered cultivation through the North Willamette Experimental Station in Aurora, Oregon, originating from seed collected by Milo Gibson in Kansas — the very same collector credited with discovering the Sunflower variety, also documented in this database, which explains why the two are so often described as similar. It was preserved and named in honor of Mary Foos Johnson, credited with helping bring this Kansas germplasm to the attention of Oregon's horticultural research community. The fruit has yellow skin and notably buttery, low-seed, sweet flesh, with Brix (sugar) readings commonly over 22%, genuinely high for a pawpaw. It ripens late in the season and shows some evidence of partial self-fertility, similar to Sunflower.