Natural History

Pawpaw

 

Asimina triloba, Custard Apple family (Annonaceae)

Leaves:
Leaves are large, long, widest toward tip. Edges of leaves are smooth, untoothed.

Bark
Bark may be smooth and gray or brown and warty.

Flowers
Flowers are usually dark purple or reddish-brown. Flowers have 6 petals, 2 inches wide. Flowers are perfect with both male and female parts in each flower. Flowers are self-incompatible, require cross-pollination. Pollinated by carrion flies and beetles.  Flowers smell like rotting meat to attract blowflies or carrion beetles, but flower scent is weak, attracting few pollinators, thus limiting fruit production.

Fruit:
Fruit is a large edible berry, 3 to 4 inches long. Fruits are green when unripe, maturing to yellow or brown. Flavor is similar to banana and mango, but pawpaws have never been cultivated, primarily because its fruit does not store or ship well.

Habitat:
Pawpaw trees are small, grow in clusters in the forest understory.  Pawpaw is the only member of its family that occurs outside of the tropics.

Habitat:
Pawpaws occur as shrubs or small trees, grow in clusters (pawpaw patches). Form clones via roots. Usually grow in moist forests.

Other Notes:

• Pawpaw was used by Audubon, the notable painter of nature, for paint brushes.
• Pawpaw is also known as a "prairie banana"
• The name Pawpaw probably derives from the Spanish papaya, perhaps because of the superficial similarity of their fruit.
• Pawpaw is the only member of its family that occurs outside of the tropics.