Pawpaw

Asimina triloba

Dimensions:

• Height: 15’ - 30’

• Mature spread: clonal, grows in patches

• Diameter of Stems: 3”

Habitat and Range:

• an understory shrub of hardwood forests

• a lowland species usually, but increasing in upland forests

• found in every Kentucky county

Features:

• the multiple stems have very large leaves

• has the largest edible native fruit, which is sweet when totally ripe

• “zebra swallowtail butterfly” larvae feed on the young leaves containing a toxin which protects them from birds

• pollinated mostly by beetles

History:

• its origin in the tropics is indicated by the drip tips of the leaves

• the name probably derives from the Spanish word “papaya”

• also called Kentucky banana

• coevolved with megafauna such as mastodons and giant sloths

• bark was used by Native Americans to make rope and fishing nets