View source for Asimina

{{Short description|North American Genus of fruit trees}}
{{About|the various species of pawpaws in the American plant genus ''Asimina''|the common pawpaw of eastern North America|Asimina triloba|the unrelated tropical papaya fruit often called papaw or pawpaw|Carica papaya|other uses|Paw Paw (disambiguation)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Asimina_triloba3.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Asimina triloba]]''<br />(common pawpaw) in fruit
| taxon = Asimina
| authority = [[Michel Adanson|Adans.]] (1763)
| type_species = ''[[Asimina triloba]]''
| type_species_authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]) Dunal
| synonyms = 
*''Deeringothamnus'' {{small|Small (1924)}}
*''Orchidocarpum'' <small>Michx. (1803)</small>
*''Pityothamnus'' <small>Small (1933)</small>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1973-1 ''Asimina'' Adans.] ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 4 June 2024.</ref>
}}

'''''Asimina''''' is a [[genus]] of small [[tree]]s or shrubs described as a genus in 1763.<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3611333#page/911/mode/1up Adanson, Michel. 1763. Familles des Plantes 2: 365] in French</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40020750| title = Tropicos, ''Asimina'' Adans.}}</ref> ''Asimina'' is the only temperate genus in the tropical and subtropical flowering plant family [[Annonaceae]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Hongwen |last2=Layne|first2=Desmond|last3=Kubisiak|first3=Thomas |title=RAPD Inheritance and Diversity in Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) |journal=Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science |date=July 2000 |volume=125 |issue=4 |pages=454–459 |doi=10.21273/JASHS.125.4.454 |url=https://journals.ashs.org/jashs/view/journals/jashs/125/4/article-p454.xml|doi-access=free }}</ref> ''Asimina'' have large, simple leaves and large fruit. It is native to eastern North America and collectively referred to as '''pawpaw'''. The genus includes the widespread common pawpaw ''[[Asimina triloba]],'' which bears the largest edible [[fruit]] indigenous to the United States.<ref name="KSU" /> Pawpaws are native to 26 states of the U.S. and to [[Ontario]] in Canada.<ref name="KSU">{{cite web|title=Pawpaw Description and Nutritional Information |url=http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/pawpaw/cooking.htm |access-date=14 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719225834/http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/pawpaw/cooking.htm |archive-date=19 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="FNA A. triloba">{{cite web|last=Flora of North America: ''Asimina triloba''|title=Asimina triloba|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220001231|work=Flora of North America|access-date=13 July 2011}}</ref> The common pawpaw is a [[cloning|patch-forming (clonal)]] [[understory]] tree found in well-drained, deep, fertile bottomland and hilly upland habitat. Pawpaws are in the same plant family (Annonaceae) as the [[custard apple]], [[cherimoya]], [[Sugar-apple|sweetsop]], [[soursop]], and [[ylang-ylang]];<ref>{{cite book|last=Boning|first=Charles R.|title=Florida's Best Fruiting Plants: Native and Exotic Trees, Shrubs, and Vines|year=2006|publisher=Pineapple Press, Inc.|location=Sarasota, Florida|isbn=978-1-56164-372-1|pages=172–173}}</ref>  the genus is the only member of that family not confined to the [[tropics]]. Fossils date to the [[Cretaceous]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Peppe |first1=Daniel J. |last2=Erickson |first2=J. Mark |last3=Hickey |first3=Leo J. |date=May 2007 |title=Fossil leaf species from the Fox Hills Formation (Upper Cretaceous: North Dakota, USA) and their paleogeographic significance |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/abs/fossil-leaf-species-from-the-fox-hills-formation-upper-cretaceous-north-dakota-usa-and-their-paleogeographic-significance/AD24F97024CE63369199259D3FED2271 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=550–567 |doi=10.1666/05067.1 |bibcode=2007JPal...81..550P |issn=0022-3360|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Names==
[[File:Michel Adanson (1727-1806) crop.png|thumb|Michel Adanson (1727–1806), who named the genus ''Asimina'']]

The genus name ''Asimina'' was first described and named by [[Michel Adanson]], a [[France|French]] [[natural history|naturalist]] of [[Scotland|Scottish]] descent. The name is adapted from a [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] term of unknown origin, ''assimin,''<ref name=Werthner>{{cite book |last1=Werthner |first1=William Benjamin |last2=Werthner |first2=Evangeline Hippard |last3=Kienholz |first3=Aaron Raymond |title=Some American trees an intimate study of native Ohio trees |date=1935 |publisher=Macmillan |oclc=681865854 }}{{pn|date=October 2021}}</ref> through the [[French colonization of the Americas|French colonial]] ''asiminier.''<ref name=Sargent>{{cite book |last1=Sargent |first1=Charles Sprague |last2=Faxon |first2=Charles Edward |last3=Gill |first3=Mary (Wright) |title=Manual of the trees of North America (exclusive of Mexico) |date=1933 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |oclc=680282467 }}{{pn|date=October 2021}}</ref>

The common name (American) pawpaw, also spelled paw paw, paw-paw, and papaw, probably derives from the Spanish ''[[papaya]]'', perhaps because of the superficial similarity of their fruits.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hormaza |first1=José I. |title=The Pawpaw, a Forgotten North American Fruit Tree |journal=Arnoldia |date=July 2014 |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=13–23 |doi=10.5962/p.253574 |url=http://www.arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2014-72-1-the-pawpaw-a-forgotten-north-american-fruit-tree.pdf |access-date=2021-10-23 |archive-date=2021-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923035428/http://www.arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2014-72-1-the-pawpaw-a-forgotten-north-american-fruit-tree.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Asimina reticulata flower.jpg|thumb|right|200px|alt=A red-purple, green, and white flower|Flower of ''Asimina reticulata'']]
[[File:Paw Paw blossom.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Flower of ''A. triloba'']]

Pawpaws are shrubs or small trees to {{convert|2|-|12|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall. The northern, cold-tolerant common pawpaw (''A. triloba'') is [[deciduous]], while the southern species are often [[evergreen]].

The [[leaf|leaves]] are alternate, obovate, entire, {{convert|20|-|35|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|10|-|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} broad.

The flowers of pawpaws are produced singly or in clusters of up to eight together; they are large, 4&ndash;6&nbsp;cm across, perfect, with three sepals and six petals (three large outer petals, three smaller inner petals). The petal color varies from white to purple or red-brown. Pawpaw flowers are noted to smell like fermenting grapes, or rotting food.

The fruit of the common pawpaw is a large, edible [[berry (botany)|berry]], {{convert|5|-|16|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|3|-|7|cm|in|abbr=on}} broad, weighing from {{convert|20|-|500|g|oz|abbr=on}}, with numerous [[seed]]s; it is green when unripe, maturing to yellow or brown. It has a flavor somewhat similar to both [[banana]] and [[mango]], varying significantly by cultivar, and has more [[protein]] than most fruits.<ref name="KSU" />{{clear left}}

==Species and their distributions==
11 species and several natural interspecies hybrids are accepted.<ref name = powo/><ref>{{cite web |title=Asimina|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=102827|work=Flora of North America|access-date=28 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://bonap.net/NAPA/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Asimina| title = Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps, ''Asimina''}}</ref>
*''[[Asimina angustifolia]]'' <small>Raf. 1840 not A. Gray 1886</small> – Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina<ref>{{cite web| url = http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Asimina%20angustifolia.png| title = Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps, ''Asimina angustifolia''}}</ref> Regarded as a synonym of ''A. longifolia'' by some authorities.<ref>{{ITIS |id=183508 |title=''Asimina angustifolia'' Raf. |access-date=1 November 2022}}</ref>
*''[[Asimina × bethanyensis]]'' {{small|DeLaney}}
*''[[Asimina × colorata]]'' {{small|DeLaney}}
*''[[Asimina incana]]'' {{small|([[W.Bartram]]) Exell}} – '''woolly pawpaw'''. Florida and Georgia.  (''Annona incana'' W. Bartram<ref name="GRIN-incana">{{GRIN | ''Annona incana'' | 405324 | accessdate = 2008-04-16}}</ref>)
*''[[Asimina longifolia]]'' {{small|[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Raf.]]}} – '''slimleaf pawpaw'''. [[Florida]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and [[Alabama]].
*''[[Asimina × kralii]]'' {{small|DeLaney}}
*''[[Asimina manasota]]'' <small>DeLaney</small> – '''Manasota papaw''' native to two counties in Florida ([[Manatee County, Florida|Manatee]] + [[Sarasota County, Florida|Sarasota]]); first described in 2010<ref>{{cite web|url=http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=4346|title=Asimina manasota - Species Page - ISB: Atlas of Florida Plants}}</ref> Not recognized by some authorities.<ref>{{ITIS |id=18108 |title=''Asimina'' Adans. |access-date=1 November 2022 }}</ref>
*''[[Asimina × nashii]]'' {{small|Kral}}
*''[[Asimina × oboreticulata]]'' {{small|DeLaney}}
*''[[Asimina obovata]]'' <small>([[Carl Ludwig Willdenow|Willd.]]) [[George Valentine Nash|Nash]])</small> (''Annona obovata'' Willd.) – '''Flag-pawpaw''' or '''Bigflower pawpaw''' – Florida <ref>{{cite web| url = http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=ASOB6| title = US Department of Agriculture plants profile, ''Asimina obovata'' (Willd.) Nash, bigflower pawpaw }}</ref><ref name="GRIN-obovata">{{GRIN | ''Asimina obovata'' | 403284 | accessdate = 2008-04-16}}</ref>
*''[[Asimina parviflora]]'' {{small|([[André Michaux|Michx.]]) [[Dunal]]}} – '''smallflower pawpaw'''. Southern states from [[Texas]] to [[Virginia]].
*''[[Asimina × peninsularis]]'' {{small|DeLaney}}
*''[[Asimina × piedmontana]]'' {{small|C.N.Horn}}
*''[[Asimina pulchella]]'' {{small|(Small) Rehder & Dayton}} – '''white squirrel banana'''. Endemic to 3 counties in Florida. (<u>endangered</u>)
*''[[Asimina pygmaea]]'' {{small|(W.Bartram) Dunal}} – '''dwarf pawpaw'''. Florida and Georgia.
*''[[Asimina reticulata]]'' {{small|Shuttlw. ex Chapman}} – '''netted pawpaw'''. Florida and Georgia.
*''[[Asimina rugelii]]'' {{small|[[B.L.Rob.]]}} – '''yellow squirrel banana'''. Endemic to Volusia county Florida (<u>endangered)</u>
*''[[Asimina spatulata]]'' <small>(Kral) D.B.Ward</small> – '''slimleaf pawpaw'''. Florida and Alabama<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=314| title = Alabama Plant Atlas, ''Asimina spatulata''}}</ref> Regarded as a synonym by some authorities.<ref>{{ITIS |id=899232 |title=''Asimina spatula'' (Kral) D.B.Ward |access-date=1 November 2022 }}</ref><ref>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1184486-2 ''Asimina spatulata'' (Kral) D.B.Ward]. ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 4 June 2024.</ref>
*''[[Asimina tetramera]]'' {{small|[[John Kunkel Small|Small]]}} – '''fourpetal pawpaw'''. Florida (<u>endangered</u>)
*''[[Asimina triloba]]'' {{small|([[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]) Dunal}} – '''common pawpaw'''. Extreme southern [[Ontario]], [[Canada]], and the eastern United States from [[New York (state)|New York]] west to southeast [[Nebraska]], and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas.  (''Annona triloba'' L.<ref name="GRIN-triloba">{{GRIN | ''Asimina triloba'' | 4485 | accessdate = 2008-04-16}}</ref>)

== Ecology ==
The common pawpaw is native to shady, rich bottom lands, where it often forms a dense undergrowth in the forest, often appearing as a patch or thicket of individual, small, slender trees.

Pawpaw flowers are insect-[[pollination|pollinated]], but fruit production is limited since few if any [[pollinator]]s are attracted to the flower's faint, or sometimes nonexistent scent. The flowers produce an odor similar to that of [[decomposition|rotting]] [[meat]] to attract [[Calliphoridae|blowflies]] or [[carrion beetle]]s for cross pollination.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/in-awe-of-the-pawpaw/Content?oid=2531240 |title=In Awe of the Pawpaw |author=Guy Hand |date=October 12, 2011 |publisher=Boise Weekly |access-date=3 July 2012 |archive-date=18 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618141557/http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/in-awe-of-the-pawpaw/Content?oid=2531240 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other insects that are attracted to pawpaw plants include scavenging [[Tephritidae|fruit flies]], [[Calliphoridae|carrion flies]] and [[beetle]]s. Because of difficult pollination, some{{who|date=November 2010}} believe the flowers are self-incompatible.

Pawpaw fruit may be eaten by [[fox]]es, [[opossum]]s, [[squirrel]]s, and [[raccoon]]s. Pawpaw leaves and twigs are seldom consumed by [[rabbit]]s or [[deer]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/pawpaw.html|title=PAWPAW Fruit Facts|access-date=2010-10-18|archive-date=2011-07-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720235418/http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/pawpaw.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The leaves, twigs, and bark of the common pawpaw tree contain natural [[insecticide]]s known as [[acetogenin]]s.<ref name="Sampson">{{cite journal |last1=Sampson |first1=Blair J. |last2=McLaughlin |first2=Jerry L. |last3=Wedge |first3=David E. |title=Paw paw extract as a botanical insecticide, 2002 |journal=Arthropod Management Tests |date=1 January 2003 |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=L5 |doi=10.1093/amt/28.1.L5 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Larvae of the [[zebra swallowtail butterfly]] feed exclusively on young leaves of the various pawpaw species, but never occur in great numbers on the plants.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/pawpaw.html| title = California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. 1996,1999, "Pawpaw: ''Asimina triloba'', Annonaceae"| access-date = 2010-10-18| archive-date = 2011-07-20| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720235418/http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/pawpaw.html| url-status = dead}}</ref>

The pawpaw is considered an evolutionary anachronism, where a now-extinct evolutionary partner, such as a Pleistocene megafauna species, formerly consumed the fruit and assisted in seed dispersal.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boone |first1=Madison J. |last2=Davis |first2=Charli N. |last3=Klasek |first3=Laura |last4=del Sol |first4=Jillian F. |last5=Roehm |first5=Katherine |last6=Moran |first6=Matthew D. |title=A Test of Potential Pleistocene Mammal Seed Dispersal in Anachronistic Fruits using Extant Ecological and Physiological Analogs |journal=Southeastern Naturalist |date=January 2015 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=22–32 |doi=10.1656/058.014.0109 |s2cid=86809830 }}</ref>

==Cultivation and uses==
[[Image:Asimina triloba red fern farm.jpg|thumb|300px|''Asimina triloba'' is often called "prairie banana" because of its banana-like, creamy texture and flavor.]]
Wild-collected fruits of the common pawpaw (''A. triloba'') have long been a popular treat throughout the tree's extensive native range in eastern North America.<ref name="KSU" /> Pawpaws have never been widely cultivated for fruit, but interest in pawpaw cultivation has increased in recent decades.<ref name="KSU" /> Fresh pawpaw fruits are commonly eaten raw; however, once ripe they [[shelf life|store]] only a few days at room temperature and do not ship well unless frozen.<ref name="KSU" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Purdue University FoodLink - Pawpaw |url=https://extension.purdue.edu/foodlink/food.php?food%3Dpawpaw&prmd=ivn&strip=1&vwsrc=0 |website=FoodLink - Purdue Extension}}</ref> Other methods of preservation include [[dehydration]], production of [[jam]]s or [[Fruit preserves|jellies]], and pressure [[canning]]. The fruit pulp is also often used locally in baked dessert recipes,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Angier |first1=Bradford |author-link=Bradford Angier |title=Field guide to edible wild plants |date=1974 |publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn=978-0-8117-0616-2 |page=160 |oclc=799792 }}</ref> with pawpaw often substituted in a number of [[banana]]-based recipes.

The common pawpaw is of interest in [[restoration ecology|ecological restoration plantings]], since this tree grows well in wet soil and has a strong tendency to form well-rooted [[Clonal colony|clonal thickets]].{{cn|date=March 2023}}

==History==
The earliest documentation of pawpaws is in the 1541 report of the [[Spain|Spanish]] [[Hernando de Soto (explorer)|de Soto]] expedition, who found [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]]s cultivating it east of the [[Mississippi River]]. Chilled pawpaw fruit was a favorite [[dessert]] of [[George Washington]], and [[Thomas Jefferson]] planted it at his home in [[Virginia]], [[Monticello]]. The [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] sometimes subsisted on pawpaws during their travels. [[Daniel Boone]] was also a consumer and fan of the pawpaw. The common pawpaw was designated as the Ohio state native fruit in 2009.<ref>{{Cite news|title=America's forgotten fruit: The native pawpaw tastes like banana and grows close to home. |author=Craig Summers Black |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |date=February 4, 2009 |url=http://features.csmonitor.com/gardening/2009/02/04/americas-forgotten-fruit/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314052335/http://features.csmonitor.com/gardening/2009/02/04/americas-forgotten-fruit/ |archive-date=2009-03-14 }}</ref><ref>[[Ohio Revised Code]] {{cite web| url = http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/gp5.082| title = Section 5.082 - Ohio Revised Code {{!}} Ohio Laws}}</ref> Multiple pawpaw festivals have celebrated the plant and its fruit.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Asimina}}
*[https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/ASIMI USDA distribution of Pawpaw]
*[http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ Pawpaw Information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040615085047/http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ |date=2004-06-15 }} from [[Kentucky State University]]
*[https://www.ars-grin.gov/ars/PacWest/Corvallis/ncgr/minor/asiinfo.html Asimina Genetic Resources - Pawpaw]
*[https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/lewis-clark/?offset=1&corpall=all&clark=clark&dateall=day&indmonth=09&indday=18&indyear=1806&numpage=1 Clark's September 18, 1806 journal entry] about pawpaws
*[http://nymf.bbg.org/profile_species_nt.asp?id=188#medicinal Asimina triloba - Brooklyn Botanical Garden] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716084214/http://nymf.bbg.org/profile_species_nt.asp?id=188#medicinal |date=2011-07-16 }}
*[http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/pawpaw.asp Pawpaw Wines] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219205458/http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/pawpaw.asp |date=2011-02-19 }}
*[http://www.ohiopawpawfest.com/ Pawpaw Festival, Athens, Ohio]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q288443}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Asimina| ]]
[[Category:Annonaceae genera]]
[[Category:Trees of Northern America]]
<!--This is as specific as we can get for the entire genus; save sharper categories for the individual species.-->
[[Category:Cuisine of the Southern United States]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Michel Adanson]]
[[Category:Fruit trees]]
[[Category:Crops originating from indigenous Americans]]