Get It Growing for 01/03/25

Increasing the use of native plants, growing your own food and supporting butterflies are all admirable goals. You can accomplish all three by planting pawpaw trees.

These trees — which you’ll sometimes hear called by their Latin name, Asimina triloba — are a wonderful but somewhat uncommon choice for the home landscape. Naturally, they can be found growing in the understory of forests throughout the southeastern United States. They’re the host plant for zebra swallowtail butterflies, meaning their larvae feed exclusively on pawpaw leaves.

Pawpaw trees provide ornamental interest in early spring, when they produce small, crimson- and rust-colored blooms. Their best-known feature is their unique, love-it-or-hate-it fruit — in fact, the largest edible fruit native to North America.

“It has a flavor like a mango crossed with a banana,” said Anna Timmerman, an LSU AgCenter horticulture agent. “Some of them even have a little vanilla flavor to them. And they’re ripe in the summertime, which is a little unusual for fruits in our area.”

Like many other native trees, winter is an excellent time to plant pawpaws, which grow well in all areas of Louisiana.

“Pawpaws are deciduous, so they do lose their leaves for the winter period,” Timmerman said. “When you plant them while they’re in that dormancy, it gives the roots adequate time to establish before they bud back out in the springtime.”

In their natural setting, pawpaw trees grow beneath their taller forest counterparts and get only filtered sunlight. Young trees are especially sensitive to too much sunlight.

You can plant trees in a shady spot. Or, while the trees are young, you can provide protection from the sun.

“A lot of growers who are establishing them in an orchard will actually use a 50% shade cloth over the top of them for the first few years of growth,” Timmerman said.

Another option is to keep pawpaw seedlings in the shade in containers for the first couple of years, then transplant them into a full-sun location.

Mature trees planted in sunnier conditions exhibit denser growth and produce more fruit. Those in the shade display a looser, open habit. They usually reach 15 to 20 feet tall.

Pawpaws do best in moist, slightly acidic soil.

You’ll need to have at least two genetically different pawpaw trees for pollination and fruit production. They’re self-incompatible, so they must have pollen from other trees to bear fruit.

“They’re actually pollinated by files, which is very interesting,” Timmerman said.

Remember the small reddish flowers that appear in the spring? The flies are drawn to them because they resemble rotten meat, Timmerman said.

LSU AgCenter horticulturists Jason Stagg and Anna Timmerman talk about pawpaws. These trees produce unique fruit and are an important food source for zebra swallowtail butterflies.

Pawpaw trees are deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves in the wintertime. Photo by Randy LaBauve/LSU AgCenter

LSU AgCenter horticulture agent Anna Timmerman holds seeds from pawpaw fruit. Photo by Randy LaBauve/LSU AgCenter

Pawpaw fruit is large, with a unique flavor that reminds some of mango and banana. LSU AgCenter file photo

Pawpaw trees. LSU AgCenter file photo