Field Guide

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

The largest native fruit in North America. Very few people in Illinois have tasted one.

§1Overview

The pawpaw is the largest edible fruit native to North America.1 It grows wild from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes, including the creek bottoms and shaded woodlands of Northern Illinois,2 and produces oblong, greenish-yellow fruits with a flavor most people compare to banana, mango, and vanilla custard.1

Legend has it George Washington chilled pawpaws in spring water and ate them by the spoonful; we have a direct record that he grew them at Mount Vernon.4 Lewis & Clark subsisted on them when their provisions ran out in September 1806.3

In the two centuries since, the country changed. Forests were cleared, the modern food system rewarded fruit that could ship, and suburbs replaced woodlands. The pawpaw quietly fell out of the American diet.8

Its short shelf life kept it out of grocery stores.7 Its sole pollinators are flies and beetles.5 Its leaves are the only food zebra swallowtail caterpillars will eat.6The pawpaw is, in every sense, a fruit of place. That is exactly why it's worth bringing back.

§2Specimen Card
Pawpaw Foundation
Five ripe pawpaw fruits arranged on a 1905 pamphlet by James A. Little titled 'The Pawpaw (Asimina Triloba)'
Plate 1Ripe fruits with James A. Little's 1905 pawpaw pamphlet9

Pawpaw

Asimina triloba · also: custard apple, Hoosier banana, prairie banana.126

Family
Annonaceae (custard apples; its closest cousins are tropical)
Native range
Eastern U.S., Gulf Coast → southern Ontario
Mature height
15–25 ft, understory tree
Fruit
Up to 1 lb · greenish-yellow · ripens Aug–Oct
Hardiness
USDA zones 5–9 (incl. Northern Illinois)
Soil
Rich, moist, well-drained · likes creek bottoms
Pollinators
Flies and beetles, not bees
Sole host of
Zebra swallowtail butterfly (Protographium marcellus)
Wildlife forage
Raccoons, opossums, foxes, black bears
Years of cultivation
150+ in North America
§3The Taste
A pawpaw cut open by hand, showing its creamy yellow flesh and large dark brown seeds
Plate 3 · Ripe pawpaw, cross-section

Imagine cutting into a ripe mango whose flesh tastes like banana and vanilla custard. It's creamy and pudding-like, with large brown seeds that pop out easily. Best eaten fresh, straight from the tree, when the fruit gives slightly to pressure.1

Like a mango, a pawpaw is best enjoyed without eating the skin or seeds. And it doesn't ship well: three days off the tree and the fruit starts to bruise; a week and it's past its prime.7They're rarely seen in grocery stores, turning up mostly at farmers' markets and devoted festivals. The best way to know what a pawpaw tastes like is to find one, or grow one, yourself, or visit an event like the Pawpaw Festival in Paw Paw, Illinois.

§4In the Wild
A male American Redstart amid the spring foliage and maroon flowers of a pawpaw tree
Plate 4 · Redstart in spring foliage & flowers

A keystone of the eastern understory, quietly holding up an entire web of life.

01

Sole host of the zebra swallowtail

The zebra swallowtail butterfly cannot complete its life cycle without pawpaw leaves. Where pawpaw goes, the butterfly follows. Where pawpaw is lost, the butterfly disappears.6

02

Understory architecture

Pawpaws thrive in dappled shade beneath oaks and hickories, spreading by root suckers to form dense clonal groves that stabilize streambanks and shade out invasives.1

03

Late-summer and fall wildlife forage

Raccoons, opossums, foxes, and black bears all eat the fruit, providing critical calories from late summer into fall.1

§5How to grow one
Bright yellow autumn foliage of a mature pawpaw tree against a clear blue sky
Plate 5 · Mature canopy in fall

Pawpaws are remarkably forgiving, with good planting practices.8

  1. 01Plant at least two genetically distinct varieties; pawpaws need cross-pollination.5
  2. 02Pick rich, moist, well-drained soil. Creek bottoms and shaded yards both work.
  3. 03Shade young trees for their first one to two summers. Direct, full sun can scald seedlings and transplants.
  4. 04Water consistently through the first establishment year, especially in late July and August.
  5. 05Mulch heavily to retain moisture and suppress understory competition.
  6. 06Wait. Pawpaws are slow. First fruit usually arrives once the tree reaches about six feet — around years five to seven for grafted trees, sometimes as many as ten from seed.8
Help us plant more
§6Where to learn more

The people and programs keeping the pawpaw alive.

  • KSU Pawpaw Program
    Kentucky State University runs the world's only full-time pawpaw research program and the USDA's national pawpaw germplasm collection.
  • Peterson Pawpaws
    Neal Peterson's decades-long breeding program — the source of the Shenandoah, Susquehanna, and Rappahannock cultivars.
  • North American Pawpaw Growers Association
    A grower network with a newsletter, regional contacts, and events for backyard and orchard growers alike.
  • Project Pawpaw
    Research, educational orchards, and advocacy working to bring North America's largest native fruit into wider cultivation.
§7Sources & Notes9 sources
  1. Largest edible fruit native to North America; botany, taste, and cultivation history: Kentucky State University Pawpaw Program, “The Pawpaw (Asimina triloba).” KSU runs the world’s only full-time pawpaw research program and hosts the USDA National Clonal Germplasm Repository for the species. ↩
  2. Native range (Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and southern Ontario) and USDA hardiness zones 5–9: USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, Asimina triloba profile, and the KSU Pawpaw Planting Guide. ↩
  3. Lewis & Clark subsisting on pawpaws when provisions ran out: Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, entry of September 18, 1806 (University of Nebraska–Lincoln). ↩
  4. George Washington recorded planting pawpaws at Mount Vernon in his 1785 diary: George Washington’s Mount Vernon, “Pawpaw.” The colorful tale that he chilled them in spring water and ate them by the spoonful is popular folklore with no contemporary documentation — see Colonial Williamsburg, “Forgotten Fruit” (2018) — so we share it as legend, not fact. ↩
  5. Pawpaw flowers are self-incompatible (they require cross-pollination from a genetically distinct tree) and are pollinated by flies and beetles rather than bees: KSU Pawpaw Program; Cornell Small Farms, “Pawpaw — A Tropical Fruit for Temperate Climates.” ↩
  6. The pawpaw genus Asimina is the sole larval host of the zebra swallowtail, Protographium marcellus (formerly Eurytides marcellus): University of Florida / IFAS Featured Creatures, EENY-58, “Zebra Swallowtail.” ↩
  7. Short shelf life and fragility keep pawpaws out of commercial grocery distribution: Cornell Small Farms / NCAT ATTRA, “Pawpaw — A Tropical Fruit for Temperate Climates.” ↩
  8. Time to first fruit and the broader history of pawpaw cultivation: KSU Pawpaw Planting Guide; and Andrew Moore, Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit (Chelsea Green, 2015). ↩
  9. The historical pamphlet shown in Plate 1: James A. Little, The Pawpaw (Asimina triloba): Some Reasons Why It Has Not Been Cultivated, Directions How to Propagate It, Etc. (Clayton, Ind.: O. G. Swindler, 1905), digitized by the Internet Archive; also viewable on Google Books. ↩