Lore: Fossil records show that Pawpaws are native to the Southeastern U. S. The range was expanded by Native Americans who valued the flavorful and nutritious fruit. Early white settlers also valued the fruit but the clearing of forests greatly reduced the availability of the fruit. Since the young trees require shade and mature trees only thrive in rich, deep, moist but not soggy soil, the trees are slow to return to the wild after deforestation. One problem that limits fruit production in the wild when populations are small and scattered is pollination. The flowers are perfect but do not self pollinate. The male and female parts mature at different times and the flowers are sterile to there own pollen so must be pollinated by an unrelated tree. Since Pawpaws often spread by root shoots a stand may be entirely one genetic clone thus the entire stand my be unable to pollinate itself. Another problem with Pawpaw fruits is the short shelf life. A fully ripe fruit will only last a day or two without refrigeration.

Despite these problems the Pawpaw may be making a comeback as a commercial fruit. Research is taking place with the aim of producing Pawpaw fruit for the market. Since Pawpaws produce a natural insecticide they do not require the huge amounts of toxic chemicals use to produce such fruits as apples. Pawpaws also seem highly resistant to disease.

In addition to eating the fruit the Cherokee used the inner bark for making rope and twine.^{(Hamel/Chiltoskey)}

Medical Uses: Anti-cancer chemicals have been found in the leaves and twigs.

See the links below this image for other images. (2) © Daniel Reed   E-mail      Image use policy OTHER IMAGES These images open in a new window. You may need to resize the window to view the entire image. Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) bud stages  © Daniel Reed Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) - leaves  © Daniel Reed Ads on this page help pay for this site but if you see one that seems inappropriate here such as one that is counter to the pro environmental theme please let me know which Ad and I will block it. Report a Bad Ad

One of the best general guides to wildflowers of the North Eastern and North Central United States. Newcomb's key is an excellent, simple method for identifying plants. Newcomb has drawings for almost every plant mentioned that are excellent aids to identifying the species. Though only the more common plants are covered this is often the first book I pick up when trying to identify a wildflower.

Wildflo wers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians

This is perhaps the best of many field guides covering this region. Featuring 446 excellent color photographs (located with the text) and mentioning as similar to those illustrated are another 800 or so species for a total coverage of over 1,200 species. The start of each family section includes line drawings of some of the species showing important features. The text includes the usual description, bloom season, range, habitat and additionally includes information such as medical uses and lore and how the species was named. This is the official field guide of the Tennessee Native Plant Society.