Pawpaw
Asimina triloba
Embedded Files
Pawpaw is widely distributed throughout the eastern US. It grows from western New York, west to Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa, south to eastern Texas, and east to the Appalachians and the Florida Panhandle. In New York, pawpaw is considered endangered. It grows in deep shade to full sunlight, and grows in wet conditions but prefers acidic soils with good drainage.
Fruit: A 4-8 cm long, yellowish-green to brown, kidney-shaped berry. They ripen from July to September.
Flowers: A 1-1.5" purplish-brown flower. They emerge with the leaves between March and May.
Uses: The fruit can be eaten raw or made into puddings, bread, or ice cream. An anticancer drug has been made from pawpaw and is being tested.
Ethnobotany: First Nations People and European settlers used the fruit in the past, such as in cakes and sauces.
Importance to wildlife: The fruit is eaten by a variety of birds and mammals. Pawpaw supports Zebra Swallowtail larvae.
The bark of a pawpaw. When mature, the bark is thin and has shallow, irregular fissures.
The twig of a pawaw. Twigs are slightly zigzag, reddish brown, and glabrous to sparingly rusty-hairy. Petioles are hollow, somewhat covering the lateral buds.
A terminal bud on a pawpaw. Terminal buds are naked, flattened, and brown- or reddish brown-woolly.
A single leaf on a pawpaw. Leaves are 12-30 cm long, entire, broadest above the middle, glabrous above, and rusty-hairy beneath. When crushed, they smell of bell pepper.
Leaf arrangement on a pawpaw. Leaves are alternate and simple.
Page updated
Report abuse