Papaw
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Papaw. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about race that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: ET 2026-07-22) a small South American tree of the natural order Passifloracea (formerly made the type of a small family, Papayaceæ), which has now been introduced into many tropical and subtropical countries. The fruit is eaten either raw or boiled. The juice of the fruit and the sap of the tree render tough meat tender, even the exhalations from the tree have this property, and joints of meat, fowls, etc., are hung among its branches to prepare them for the table. The Chamburu of Brazil is remarkable for the extremely acrid and poisonous character of its juice, and the disgusting stercoraceous odor of its flowers. In the United States the name papaw is given a small tree of the natural order Anonaceæ, the fruit of which, a large oval berry, three inches long, with soft, insipid pulp, is eaten by negroes.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a small tree or shrub of eastern North America . There are eight species in the United States , two of which are in cultivation for their large, showy spring flowers and handsome foliage. The common Indian papaw is a small tree noted for fleshy berries from two to six inches long. This papaw grows native from Kansas to New York and southward. The fruit has a rich brown color. It has a highly aromatic flavor. The seed is large. It has been suggested that the papaw is capable of development into an important American fruit. The papaw of the tropics, quite another thing, is the fruit of a species of palm. This fruit has a shape, color, and length that has gained for it the name of false banana.