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Early October is prime time for Greg Pickett to pick pawpaws along a creek bottom in Elk County.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

A pawpaw on a limb while Greg Pickett picks some from the ground.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

Gregg Pickett has been eating pawpaws for most of his 40 years. He's eaten them in breads and made them into wine. His favorite way is to eat them fresh in the woods.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

Greg Pickett shows the pudding-like flesh of a ripe pawpaw.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

A ripe pawpaw has a sweet flesh many compare to a sweet banana.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

Pawpaw fruit on the oversize leaves of the plant that's commonly found in big wood lots of eastern Kansas.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

Greg Pickett shakes an average-size pawpaw in a grove where he's found the fruit for most of his 40 years. Some groves on his family ranch seldom produce fruit.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

Pawpaw leaves are some of the largest on Kansas' trees, sometimes a foot or more long. The native tree is related to tropical plants.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

Pawpaws grow within many timbered areas in eastern Kansas.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

A partly eaten pawpaw proves the fruit is popular with many animals, especially raccoons.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

Pawpaw fruit in a patch of trees well within a creek bottom wood lot. The trees grow best beneath tall timber, in moist and rich soil.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

Greg Pickett shakes a pawpaw tree to loosen the fruit. Most trees had four to 12 pawpaws.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

A partly eaten pawpaw by a deer track. Deer are among the many animals that eat pawpaws.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle

Greg Pickett heads to his truck after picking two bags of pawpaws while squirrel hunting in Elk County.

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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle