Pawpaw Tree

Often called the “Indiana Banana,” pawpaws produce the largest edible native fruit in North America. The custard-like flesh has a tropical flavor somewhere between banana, mango, and melon, with soft, sweet, fragrant pulp surrounding large seeds. Trees have large, drooping tropical-looking leaves and make excellent understory plants, thriving in a wide range of moist soils. Two genetically distinct trees are required for fruit set. All of ours are grown from seed and thus all are genetically distinct. Each tree produces a underground root colony from which more trees will form, making a "grove" overtime and sticking around for up to a thousand years. Very few pests affect pawpaws. Native to Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and the rest of the Eastern United States.

• Zones: 5 to 8
  
• Height: 10 to 30 ft
  
• Spread: slow to spread but will spread over hundreds of feet if given many years.
  
• Spreading habit: Upright, pyramidal
  
• Sun: Full sun to part shade (full sun for fruiting)
  
• Soil: Moist, fertile, well-drained
  
• Pollination: Requires cross-pollination (at least two needed)