[Granville-Hough] 8 Jan 2011 - Harold Hopkins on Maypop and Mayhaw

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

From: harold hopkins <hhopkins3 at comcast.net>
Subject: Maypop 
Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 10:35:59 -0800

I don't know whether Granville mentions it or not, but there used to be 
a vine that grew in cultivated fields or wherever the ground was soft 
and sunny in our part of Mississippi, and climbed plants or ran along 
the ground.  We called it a maypop.  It had a pretty purplish bloom, 
then produced fruits that were green, oval shaped,  and somewhat larger 
than an egg.  They eventually ripened toward late summer and changed 
color to a kind of orangish hue.  Once ripe, they became soft, sweet and 
edible.  Whether green or ripe they were good  ammunition for growing, 
throwing boys, and  more than once I was surprised while picking cotton 
to be   socked on the back  of my head  by a ripe  maypop and feel the 
juice run down my neck.   Once maypops gained a toehold they were 
difficult to eradicate, as I found when I made the mistake of planting 
some in my backyard garden in Bethesda, MD in the 1970s.    Maypops and 
other species of this genus were called Passaflora or passion flowers.  
I never saw any of the more exotic species until once when I was in  one 
of the greenhouses at the National Arboretum in Washington, DC.

Speaking of May, there was also in our part of Mississippi a plant 
called the Mayhaw that grew around places such as millponds, where
 the berries were harvested by raking the floating fruits from the 
water.  I never had any experience with this plant and don't remember 
ever seeing  one, but I did taste the fruits and one of the products 
people made -- Mayhaw jam or jelly.  I guess you could say it was 
somewhat similar to a cranberry.  As for millponds,  I should explain 
that in pre-electric days,  millponds were created by damming up small 
streams to create waterpower for corn mills or other such devices.

Both these fruits are Google-able.  Take a look.