Every botanical, historical, and ecological reference behind the Pawpaw Foundation site, gathered in one place.
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.
Open sourceNative range from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and southern Ontario, and USDA hardiness zones 5–9: USDA NRCS PLANTS Database and the KSU Pawpaw Planting Guide.
Open sourcePawpaw flowers are self-incompatible and require cross-pollination from a genetically distinct tree. They are pollinated by flies and beetles rather than bees: KSU Pawpaw Program and Cornell Small Farms.
Open sourceThe pawpaw genus Asimina is the sole larval host of the zebra swallowtail, Protographium marcellus: University of Florida / IFAS Featured Creatures, EENY-58 Zebra Swallowtail.
Open sourceShort shelf life and fragility keep pawpaws out of commercial grocery distribution: Cornell Small Farms / NCAT ATTRA, Pawpaw — A Tropical Fruit for Temperate Climates.
Open sourceTime 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).
Open sourceLewis and Clark subsisted on pawpaws when provisions ran out: Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, entry of September 18, 1806, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Open sourceGeorge Washington recorded planting pawpaws at Mount Vernon in his 1785 diary. The tale that he chilled them in spring water and ate them by the spoonful is popular folklore without contemporary documentation.
Mount Vernon sourceThe Pawpaw (Asimina triloba): Some Reasons Why It Has Not Been Cultivated, Directions How to Propagate It, Etc. (Clayton, Indiana: O. G. Swindler, 1905), digitized by the Internet Archive.
Open sourceSeed handling, cold-moist stratification, sowing depth, container depth, and germination timing: KSU Cooperative Extension's Pawpaw Planting Guide. Keep seed moist and unfrozen, stratify it for 70–100 days, and sow it one inch deep in a tall container.
Open sourceSite selection, container-grown stock, spring planting, spacing, water, and temporary shade for young trees: KSU Cooperative Extension and University of Missouri Extension, Growing and Marketing Pawpaw in Missouri.
Open sourcePawpaws are native understory trees, and seedlings require shade: KSU Pawpaw Program and James A. Little's 1905 account that the pawpaw tree is by nature an undergrowth and must be shaded when it first comes up.
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