Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
Identifying Features
Plant Family: Annonaceae
Native Range: Eastern North America
Leaf: deciduous, alternate, simple, leaf margin smooth, 6-12 inches long, widest near tip
Twig and Bud: fuzzy, dark brown buds on gray-brown twigs
Flower, Fruit and Seed: cup-shaped purplish-maroon flowers give way to large yellow-green edible fruit, seeds are dark and ½-¾ inch long
Bark: smooth, thin, gray bark
Shape and Mature Height: understory tree that grows to 25 feet
Garden Value and Considerations
Pawpaw trees are native understory trees, but when grown in a full sun landscape they have a densely pyramidal crown. They have large tropical-looking leaves. The soft, yellow interior of the fruit has a sweet flavor similar to banana. Root suckers create colonies from a parent tree, but genetically different pawpaw trees are needed for cross-pollination in order to yield fruit. Pawpaw trees are pollinated by flies which are attracted by the dark maroon colored flowers.
Notes
Pawpaw trees grow in moist bottomlands and ravines, where their fruits are a favored source of food for raccoons, opossums, squirrels and other wildlife. The caterpillars of the zebra swallowtail butterfly and the pawpaw sphinx moth feed on the leaves of pawpaw trees.
