The Zebra Swallowtail butterfly has one host plant: the native Pawpaw tree. No Pawpaw, no Zebra Swallowtail. Wild Ones PA Ridge & Valley is building a Pawpaw corridor across Blair County, a living chain of trees from Johnstown to Lewistown, so this striking butterfly can find habitat, breed, and expand its range across central Pennsylvania.
About This Project
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is Pennsylvania’s only native tropical fruit tree, a relic of the pre-settlement forest understory that once lined rivers and creek banks across our region. Today, isolated Pawpaw patches are too fragmented to support a viable Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) population across the landscape.
Pawpaw Pathways is our long-running answer. Each year, we plan and fund a new planting cohort, adding trees at sites across Blair County to gradually stitch together a connected corridor from Johnstown in the south-west to Lewistown in the north-east. Over ten or more years, this corridor will give Zebra Swallowtails the connected habitat they need to establish and thrive.
Why Pawpaws
Pawpaw is Pennsylvania native, historically common in the Ridge and Valley region along creek banks and forest edges. It grows in part shade and moist soils, needs almost no care once established, and lives for decades. Its fruit has been eaten in this region for centuries, and it’s increasingly valued in food forest settings for exactly that reason.
But the single most important fact about Pawpaw, for this project, is ecological: it is the only larval host plant for the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly. Not one of several options. The only one. Without Pawpaw leaves to lay eggs on, Zebra Swallowtails cannot reproduce. Plant Pawpaws, and the butterfly can establish. Without them, it cannot persist in a landscape no matter how much other habitat surrounds it.
How It Works
Rather than one large planting, Pawpaw Pathways grows the corridor year by year. We planted the first trees this spring. Now we’re sourcing the next cohort, identifying new sites, and expanding the corridor further. Over time, these annual plantings connect into continuous habitat stretching from Johnstown to Lewistown.
You can see where we’ve planted so far on the Pawpaw Pathways corridor map.
Support This Project
Fundraising goal: $1,000
Your contribution funds the next round of bare-root Pawpaw trees, protective tree shelters, mulch, and planting materials for new corridor sites across central Pennsylvania.
Have a Pawpaw Grove?
Do you have Pawpaw trees on your property or know of a grove in Blair County or the surrounding region? We want to hear from you. Existing groves help us map the corridor, identify gaps, and connect plantings where they’ll do the most good for Zebra Swallowtails.
All donations are processed securely through Zeffy. Wild Ones PA Ridge & Valley is a chapter of Wild Ones Natural Landscapers, Ltd., an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.