Asimina triloba - Pawpaw

Short-trunked tree or large, multi-stemmed shrub, 10-40 ft. tall, with large, tropical-like leaves. The thick, bright-green, deciduous leaves turn yellow-green in fall.

Cup-shaped, purple flowers (3 green sepals and 6 purple petals in two tiers) appear in spring, and give way to edible, oblong, yellowish green fruits which mature in early autumn to a dark brown. Flavor and fleshy consistency of the sweet-flavored fruits resembles bananas

First recorded by the DeSoto expedition in the lower Mississippi Valley in 1541. The name Common Pawpaw is from the Arawakan name of Papaya, an unrelated tropical American fruit.

Height: 15-30 ft

Sun: Full-sun/part-shade

Water: Medium to wet

Bloom color: Purple

Bloom time: April to May