No matter how you spell it, pawpaws are the largest edible fruit native to the U.S.

The first pawpaw I ever saw was in a town in Michigan. It wasn’t long before I learned that the town was named after the pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba).

Turns out there are also communities called Paw Paw in Illinois, West Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky. Recently, a former intern suggested I write an article about pawpaws. As you’ll read, that was a great idea.

Pawpaws in history

First, the spelling of this tree’s common name does vary. Some sources go with paw paw while others use paw-paw, pawpaw, or papaw. When it comes to the trees, I’ll stick with pawpaw which is probably, historically speaking, a misspelling.

You see, this tree belongs to a family of woody plants, commonly named the custard apple family, that are typically found in tropical and subtropical environs. Pawpaw is the only member of this botanical family to grow so far north.

In 1541, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto was probably the first European to discover the native peoples growing and eating “the custard apple.” He thought it was a papaya and, somehow over the centuries, that got converted into pawpaw. Others argue pawpaw is the muddled English version of another Caribbean fruit. We’ll leave that to the etymologists.

Another example of pawpaws in history, and a variation on the word, can be found in this Sept. 18, 1806, entry from the Journals of Lewis and Clark. It reads that the men are entirely out of supplies but “appear perfectly contented and tell us that they can live very well on the pappaws.”

The tree’s scientific name, Asimina triloba, is easier to explain. Asimina is an abbreviated version of the Shawnee word for pawpaw, ha’siminikiisfwa. Triloba describes the flower, which has three wrinkled, leathery lobes that start out green and then turn maroon.

Botanical details

To be a bit more precise, pawpaw flowers, which measure two inches across, have three crinkled sepals and six similar petals. The flowers give off the smell of rotting meat, which attract pollinators such as carrion beetles and blowflies.

In contrast to the wrinkled flowers, the large leaves are smooth on both sides and along the edges. They can grow to be a foot long and six inches across. The leaves are elliptical in shape with a short point at the tip and narrowing at the base. The unpalatable leaves are rarely eaten by deer, rabbits, or insects. This is not entirely surprising since the leaves contain acetogenins, a group of natural insecticides.

Gardeners should know that there is one beautiful butterfly whose larvae thrive on pawpaw leaves. If you have seen a stunning zebra swallowtail (Protographium marcellyus), there was probably a pawpaw tree nearby. It turns out that the zebra swallowtail caterpillars are made unappealing to predators thanks to their acetogenin-infused diet.

This brings us to the fruit. Pawpaw trees produce the largest edible fruit native to the United States. When ripe in late August to early September, the greenish yellow fruit can be six inches in length, with a tasty yellow pulp encasing several dark brown seeds.

Interestingly, for the fruit to develop, the flowers have to be cross-pollinated, which requires two pawpaw trees. Fortunately, thanks to a former volunteer who brought us many pawpaws, we now have two growing here at Stillman Nature Center. Pawpaws are an understory tree, or tall shrub, rarely exceeding 40 feet in height.

Shade-tolerant pawpaws slowly push their taproots deep into rich soils throughout most of the eastern U.S., from the Gulf of Mexico to the southern Great Lakes, including nearly all of Illinois. Pawpaws are often found growing in clusters, as in “way down yonder in the pawpaw patch.”

Entertaining and nutritious fruit

That old song isn’t the only entertaining aspect of pawpaws. Some of this tree’s common names can be are delightfully descriptive. Since the fleshy fruit is intermediate between a mango and a banana, it has earned names such as American custard apple, wild banana, poor man’s banana, Hoosier banana, Ozark banana and, my favorite, banango.

Some would say a taste for pawpaws needs to be acquired. The fragrant fruit can be somewhat cloying on the tongue. Ohio botanist William Werthner described pawpaw as having “ … a tangy wildwood flavor peculiarly its own.”

Pawpaws can be eaten chilled or at room temperature. Keep in mind that the ripe fruit will spoil after a couple of days at room temperature. There are a variety of recipes available for preparing them in the kitchen. You can substitute pawpaw for any recipe that includes banana.

Compared to other fruits, pawpaws are rich in vitamin C and minerals including copper, zinc, iron, magnesium, and potassium. In addition, pawpaws contain all of the essential amino acids. No wonder Lewis and Clark’s crew could sustain themselves on Ozark bananas.

As you might guess, humans aren’t the only animals eating pawpaws. Raccoons, opossums, foxes, squirrels, and bears all dine on banangos. At one time, it is theorized, much larger mammals such as giant ground sloths and mastodons probably enjoyed custard apples.

If you stop to think about it, the purpose of tasty fruit is to help disperse seeds. Chipmunks aren’t about to stuff a pawpaw in their cheek and carry it to their burrows. Maybe that’s become a human job these days.

Appropriate names

Speaking of cheeks, I have often thought that the American Dental Association should be headquartered in Flossmoor rather than Chicago. What community name could be better suited for the ADA? Similarly, American Humane should have a branch office, as it were, in one of the Paw Paw communities. You know, one paw for cats and the other for dogs. I’m just trying to help.

Mark Spreyer is the executive director of the Stillman Nature Center in Barrington. Email him at stillmangho@gmail.com.