Pawpaw
(Asimina triloba)
© Matilda Adams/Missouri Botanical Garden
When you think of fruit, what comes to mind? A crisp shiny red apple, a luscious cool watermelon on a scorching summer day, or a succulent orange from the Sunshine State? These fruits are delicious, extremely popular, and cultivated throughout the Americas today. Though beloved, these highly renowned fruits are species introduced to the Americas by humans centuries ago. There has been one delectable fruit here all along; paleontological evidence suggests they have been present for tens of millions of years. The largest edible fruit in North America, waiting, growing, ripening on a tree in a nearby woodland. Have you guessed it yet? The pawpaw fruit of the common pawpaw tree, Asimina triloba!
The pawpaw is a woodland, understory, deciduous tree species, reaching a height of 15 to 30 feet. It has large leaves that mature to a golden yellow in the fall and produces a yellowish green to brown fruit.
© Nathan Kwarta/Missouri Botanical Garden
The native range of the pawpaw tree stretches across the eastern, southern, and midwestern United States from New York to Nebraska, south to Florida and eastern Texas. Pawpaw trees thrive in shade, prefer moist, well-drained soils and are often found growing in colonies near creeks or floodplains. Pawpaw trees are unique in that they are pollinated by flies and beetles. In spring, the inconspicuous maroon flowers effuse a rancid odor, smelling like rotting meat. The blooms do not offer a sweet scent or a nectar reward for pollinators like bees and butterflies. However, the pawpaw is the only host plant for zebra swallowtail butterflies whose caterpillars munch on the leaves.
It’s no surprise if you have never heard of the pawpaw, as you will not find this sweet and aromatic fruit at your favorite chain grocery store. If you regularly adventure to your local farmers market, you might be lucky enough to encounter this racoon-and opossum-coveted fruit in late August through mid-September. The pawpaw fruit has a short shelf life, does not ripen well after harvesting, and bruises very easily. These factors make the pawpaw fruit difficult to commodify.
Have no fret or fear, if you too crave the sweet banana-mango flavor paired with a creamy-custard like texture of a pawpaw fruit, you can grow your own pawpaw trees. The pawpaw tree is deer-resistant due to a trait hidden in its genetics. When crushed, the leaves of the pawpaw tree emit a strong unpleasant odor and taste. This natural defense ensures that pawpaw trees are mostly pest-free.
One important thing to remember if you want to grow pawpaw trees is that they are self-incompatible. That means that they require cross pollination between two different genetically distinct trees to produce fruit. Additionally, the flowers are protogynous, meaning that they go through a female stage first before maturing into a male stage. To ensure a bigger yield of fruit, hand pollination can be beneficial. Pollen is transferred from a mature maroon flower to a young green, glossy stigma of another tree’s flower. It can take five to eight years, or even ten years, before a pawpaw tree sets fruit when grown from seed. If you want fruit sooner, a grafted tree will typically set fruit in three to four years.
Plant some pawpaw trees this spring in your garden. In the meantime, visit local farmer’s markets, and come end of summer, I hope you can enjoy the sweet taste of North America’s largest edible native fruit.
Learn more about the pawpaw tree on Missouri Botanical Garden’s Plant Finder website.
—Joshua Moore
Community Landscape Specialist, Missouri Botanical Garden