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West Virginia Trees

Chapter 83: COMMON PAWPAW
By A. B. Brooks
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A practical field guide to the native and introduced trees of West Virginia, providing keys based mainly on leaves and fruits, concise family and species descriptions, and detailed line drawings for about 101 native species. It organizes trees by botanical families, gives brief flower notes, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for identifying specimens; occasional introduced species and shrubs are noted. The bulletin emphasizes simplicity for non-specialists, offers measurements and habit descriptions for each species, and includes administrative prefatory material. Its aim is to aid lay readers and students in tree identification and to encourage local interest in forestry.

COMMON PAWPAW

Asimina triloba, Dual.

Form.—Height 10-50 feet, diameter 8-12 inches; trunk usually straight and slender, bearing a broad or restricted crown of straight branches.

Leaves.—Alternate, simple, thin, obovate-lanceolate, pointed, 4-12 inches long, margin entire, smooth except when young, dark green above, paler beneath.

Flowers.—April-May, with the leaves; scattered along the twigs, perfect, 1-1½ inches wide, dark reddish purple, borne on stout hairy stalks.

Fruit.—Matures in early autumn; short, cylindric, resembling a banana, 3-5 inches long, with a thin, greenish-yellow skin, enclosing a yellow pulpy edible mass through which is scattered several brown shiny seeds.

Bark.—Rather smooth, brown, often blotched, thin and close.

Wood.—Light, soft, coarse-grained, brown with yellowish sapwood.

Range.—Western New York and central New Jersey, south to Florida and west to Texas, Kansas and Michigan.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Scattered groups throughout the State, except in the Spruce belt, and in the higher adjacent sections. Common along the Ohio and Potomac river valleys.

Habitat.—Prefers moist soils along streams, but grows well on loamy slopes.

Notes.—The Pawpaw or Custard Apple is not important as a forest tree but is interesting and attractive on account of its peculiar fruits. It is very tolerant of shade and is suitable for underplanting where production of wood is not the object.