Asimina triloba (Pawpaw)

Asimina triloba, most commonly known as pawpaw or paw paw, is a small, understory tree native to much of Eastern North America, as far west as Texas and as far north as New York. Perhaps best known for its edible fruits, pawpaw produces small, three-lobed maroon-brown flowers in the spring which slowly turn to large, green, oblong fruits through the course of the summer. Once ripe, pawpaw fruits will naturally fall from the trees, and can be collected or foraged, and eaten; typically consumed raw, pawpaw fruits have a custardy texture and a taste reminiscent of banana or mango. As part of the custard apple family, pawpaws are closely related to a variety of neo-tropical fruits like the custard apple and the soursop. Note: To produce fruit, pawpaws require a pollinating partner, so it is recommended to plant at least two trees on the same property.

Pawpaw trees typically grow to about 15-30' tall and wide, and have a fibrous, colonial root system, by which new trees will sucker, as propagation by seed can be rather difficult. Trees produce a dense canopy of very large, broad, and glossy-green leaves up to 6-12" long that turn a brilliant golden yellow color in the fall. Typically found wild in naturalized woodland and riparian areas, Asimina triloba prefers medium-wet well-draining soils with some acidity and grows well in a wide variety of light levels, though they prefer partial or full shade. Pawpaw does well in sandy areas along rivers or on woodland slopes, and as such is mildly tolerant of occasional flooding, as long as they are not left in standing water; in addition, Asimina triloba is resistant to deer damage and to soils contaminated with black walnut phytochemicals.

Occasionally referred to as an 'anachronistic plant,' pawpaw fruits are theorized to have co-evolved along extinct North American megafauna, like giant ground sloths and mammoths, as these creatures were large enough to eat pawpaw fruits whole, and their stomachs are theorized to have provided much of the physical and chemical treatment that pawpaw seeds require to successfully germinate. In terms of today's fauna, however, pawpaw trees are an important insect host plant for the beautiful zebra swallowtail butterfly (Eurytides marcellus), whose caterpillars grow on and consume pawpaw leaves.