Pawpaw

All Featured Species

Pawpaw

(Asimina triloba )

The Custard-Apple Family (Annonaceae)

Short, single or multi-trunked tree with large alternate, deciduous leaves and gray, smooth, “wart-like” bark.

Habitat:

Ravines, depressions, flood plains, bottomlands.

Interesting Facts:

Plant used by Native Americans as a diuretic, lice treatment and as a narcotic. Alkaloids found in its leaves and bark are being researched for cancer treatment. Host to Zebra Swallowtail butterfly and Pawpaw Sphinx moth.

Fruit:

Short, fat banana-shaped pod with a banana-like flavor and creamy texture, 2.5 - 4” long, green turning to brown when ripe in the fall. Eaten raw or often used for making jelly.

Flower:

1 - 1.5” purplish-brown, bell shaped, with 6 petals; appearing with or slightly before the leaves.

Wildlife value:

Fruit is food for small mammals, birds, and insects in the fall and attracts multiple insects and butterflies. Small size limits cover benefit for most animals.

Flower (side view)