Asimina triloba

Asimina triloba
In fruit
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Secure  (NatureServe)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Magnoliids
Order:	Magnoliales
Family:	Annonaceae
Genus:	Asimina
Species:	A. triloba
Binomial name
Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal
Natural range

Asimina triloba, the American papaw, pawpaw, paw paw, or paw-paw, among many regional names, is a small deciduous tree native to the eastern United States and southern Ontario, Canada, producing a large, yellowish-green to brown fruit.^[3][4][5] Asimina is the only temperate genus in the tropical and subtropical flowering plant family Annonaceae, and Asimina triloba has the most northern range of all.^[6] Well-known tropical fruits of different genera in family Annonaceae include the custard-apple, cherimoya, sweetsop, ylang-ylang, and soursop.

The pawpaw is a patch-forming (clonal) understory tree of hardwood forests, which is found in well-drained, deep, fertile bottomland and also hilly upland habitat.^[7] It has large, simple leaves with drip tips, more characteristic of plants in tropical rainforests than within this species' temperate range.^[8] Pawpaw fruits are the largest edible fruit indigenous to the United States^[9][10] (not counting gourds, which are typically considered vegetables rather than fruit for culinary purposes, although in botany they are classified as fruit).^[3]

Pawpaw fruits are sweet, with a custard-like texture, and a flavor somewhat similar to banana, mango, and pineapple. They are commonly eaten raw, but are also used to make ice cream and baked desserts. However, the bark, leaves, fruit, and seeds contain the potent neurotoxin annonacin.^[11]