Pawpaw: The American Tropical Forgotten by Americans
The American pawpaw is a custard-fleshed tropical-tasting native fruit that grows wild from Texas to Ontario. The story of America's native banana.
The American pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is the largest edible fruit native to North America. Native from the Great Plains east to the Atlantic, north into Ontario, the pawpaw produces large soft fruits with custard-textured flesh that tastes like a banana-mango-vanilla hybrid. Indigenous peoples ate pawpaws for thousands of years; today the fruit is almost unknown in modern North American grocery stores because it bruises easily and ships poorly.
Origin and history
Native to eastern North America. The Lewis and Clark expedition lived on pawpaws during their final return journey down the Missouri. Pawpaw was a regular food for Indigenous peoples and early American settlers but never made the jump to commercial agriculture due to its delicate fruit.
Where it grows today
Small commercial production in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana. Mostly hobbyist and farmers-market scale. Wild populations cover huge areas of forested floodplains.
How to grow
USDA Zones 5-9 โ cold-hardy native. Understory tree (5-10m). Young trees need shade; mature trees take more sun. Two genetically different cultivars needed for cross-pollination. First fruit in 3-5 years from grafted tree.
Bottom line
A delicious native fruit hiding in plain sight. Plant in any eastern U.S. or Canadian garden and reconnect to centuries of forgotten American food culture.