Melinda Myers

Pawpaw

Botanical Name

Asimina triloba

Min Zone

5

Max Zone

8

Height

15 to 20 feet

Width

15 to 20 feet

Flowers

Early spring: cup-shaped, 6 petaled, nodding dark purple

Fruit

Edible, 6 inch cylindrical shaped, yellow-green

Fall Color

Yellow to yellow-green

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil

Moist to wet, well-drained, slightly acidic

Planting & Care

• Drought sensitive
• Will grow in shade, but tree will be open and shaggy in habit
• Often spreads by root suckers to form colonies
• Flavor and flesh consistency of fruit is similar to bananas
• Fruit is sought out and relished by wildlife such as raccoons, opossums and squirrels
• Tolerant to black walnut toxicity
• Best fruit production occurs when trees are growing close to each other
• Native to low bottom woods, wooded slopes, ravines and along streams

Problems

None serious

Varieties

• Mango - late ripening cultivar, large fruit with orange-yellow flesh, 15 to 25 feet
• NC-1 - large fruit with fewer seeds and thinner skin, early ripening, 12 to 15 feet
• Pennsylvania Golden - very early ripening fruit, very sweet fruit, 12 to 15 feet
• Prolific - abundant fruiting, early ripening 12 to 15 feet
• Overleese - large fruit with few seeds, early ripening, 12 to 15 feet
• Sunflower - large fruit with fewer seeds, late ripening, 15 to 25 feet