The petals themselves have a heavy texture with impressed veins and their rich maroon-brown color that glows when backlit by the sun. Each flower is beautiful when inspected closely, with three broadly rounded outer petals that curve back, revealing another ring of three smaller petals that surround the stamens and pistils in the center of the flower. The small, unusual flowers are intriguing, only about 1-1/2” wide, hanging from the bare branches like dark maroon bells. In early to mid-April, just before the new leaves emerge, Pawpaws begin to bloom with a most distinctive flower. Pawpaw Tree Fall Color – Photo by Betsy Washington The bark is smooth gray-brown but develops small, warty raised pores (lenticels) as it ages. Pawpaws tend to spread into colonies via root suckers especially in rich, moist woods, so that what appears to be many individual trees is actually a single colony of genetically identical individuals. In fall the lush foliage turns a clear, showy yellow, lighting up the shady understory. In shady areas, the leaves are fanned out along the stout branches, in an arrangement that allows the tree to absorb the maximum amount of limited sunlight beneath the often-dense forest canopy. Pawpaws are distinctive small trees and have large, rather tropical-looking, drooping leaves that can reach 12” in length and up to six inches wide. They are an understory tree reaching up to 40 ft in height and tend to sucker into small colonies or “Pawpaw patches”. In Virginia, Pawpaws are common in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont in forested bottomlands, well drained floodplain forests, swamp hummocks and rich woods. Ranging from Florida and Texas north to New York and Southern Ontario, Pawpaw is the only member of this family to occur in north temperate forests. Pawpaw is a member of the Custard-Apple Family, the Annonaceae, a large family of tropical and subtropical species. The Pawpaw, Asimina triloba, is a handsome small tree that is as fascinating as it is curious. In general, two or more trees are needed for pollination.By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Pawpaw are pollinated by flies and/or beetles, however the rate of pollination is low and home gardeners may need to pollinate their trees by hand. Well known for its edible fruit (4-16 cm long) which are large, sweet, and similar to some tropical species such as mango. Choose a location that has more sun than shade and is protected from strong winds.
Prefers to be grown in soil that is slightly acidic and consistently moist. Holds its green foliage well into the fall before turning a bright yellow.
It may tolerate some cooler climates if well protected. Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a unique and rare small tree that can sometimes take the form of a large shrub.
Therefore, we suggest that you purchase a few trees to increase the chances of having a male and female. The caveat is that you cannot determine the sex until flowers appear on the tree after a few years. To produce fruit, you will need at least one male and one female tree. Please Note: Pawpaw trees are dioecious, which means that each tree is either male or female. This tree is native to the Carolinian Zone, and will grow best in the milder regions of Southern Ontario (Zone 5 to 7)
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