North American Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

This is the least known of America’s native fruits, and ironically it is also North America’s largest, and many would say most flavorful, fruit.  It is native from southern Ontario to northern Florida and as far west as Missouri, Arkansas and Texas.  (In fact, the town name “Natchitoches” means “place of the pawpaw” in the Native American language once spoken in Texas and Louisiana. Notice that “-toches” and “Texas” do not sound dissimilar, and there may be a linguistic connection in the words.) 

Tennessee is literally in the very heart of its range, and it is very popular in the Ohio River Valley States of West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana.  Lewis and Clark mention eating them frequently.  “One can live well on pawpaws.”  For the Native Americans, pawpaw was a seasonal treat because it was perishable, but much loved it is thought, as wherever the Native Americans lived, they transported and planted pawpaw seeds, leading to isolated patches of pawpaws outside their normal range.

The species name of pawpaw is Asimina, a Native American word “asimina” or “simina” from the Creek language.  And the word pawpaw is related to the Caribbean native word papaya, a fruit with which pawpaw is often confused, though they are unrelated, and taste and look completely different. 

Unlike more commercially available fruits like apples, pears, and plums, pawpaws have resisted modern market cultivation, some say because of their purported short shelf life and tendency to bruise.  At room temperature, their shelf life is measured in days, but with refrigeration the shelf life is extended to 4 weeks, or so.   

Selections at the Orchard include selected wild pawpaws, and 1st and 2nd generation improved cultivars from Jerry Lehmann, James Claypool, the Kentucky State University breeding program and Neal Peterson.  These brief efforts to develop the fruit show enormous potential for the fruit commercially.  We, however, like the amazing wild variability of the fruit.

A mission of the Orchard is to be a comprehensive genetic library of named cultivars of Asimina triloba, our North American Pawpaw.  Below are the varieties that are planted at the Orchard, and those that are in our grafting cycle to be planted when they are sufficiently robust.

Growers possessing cultivars that are not shown here are encouraged to reach out to AFFN with germplasm/scions. Please also reach out to us, if you have corrections to offer on cultivar names, or redundancies of which you are aware among the cultivars.  Clarifying confusion in names, which has arisen through the years, is also a goal of AFFN.

Pawpaws at the AFFN Orchard – last updated January 2026

• Asimina triloba – Akron Garden Club
• Asimina triloba – Al Horn White Flesh
• Asimina triloba – Albion-Left (Westernmost)
• Asimina triloba – Albion-Right (Easternmost)
• Asimina triloba – ARK-21
• Asimina triloba – Avatar
• Asimina triloba – Balarama White
• Asimina triloba – Barrett’s Best
• Asimina triloba – Blumen Garden
• Asimina triloba – Cajun Delight
• Asimina triloba – Campbell (NC-1)
• Asimina triloba – Cantaloupe
• Asimina triloba – Carmelo
• Asimina triloba – Caspian Halvin
• Asimina triloba – Cawood
• Asimina triloba – Central
• Asimina triloba – Cheremoya West
• Asimina triloba – Clear Blue Sky
• Asimina triloba – Collins
• Asimina triloba – Convis
• Asimina triloba – Cothron (R-1)
• Asimina triloba – Cox
• Asimina triloba – Danae’s Creekside
• Asimina triloba – Daniel Boone
• Asimina triloba – Davis
• Asimina triloba – Dedon #1
• Asimina triloba – Dedon #2
• Asimina triloba – Dr. Chill
• Asimina triloba – England “Lehman – 1”
• Asimina triloba – England “Lehman – 11”
• Asimina triloba – England “Lehman – 3”
• Asimina triloba – England “Lehman – 5”
• Asimina triloba – England “Lehman – 7”
• Asimina triloba – Estil
• Asimina triloba – Evelyn
• Asimina triloba – Florence White
• Asimina triloba – Ford Amend
• Asimina triloba – Free Byrd
• Asimina triloba – G. North
• Asimina triloba – Gainesville #1
• Asimina triloba – Gainesville #2
• Asimina triloba – Garage West
• Asimina triloba – Grandma Meyer
• Asimina triloba – Green River Belle
• Asimina triloba – Halvin
• Asimina triloba – Halvin’s Sidewinder
• Asimina triloba – Honeydew
• Asimina triloba – Hoot Owl
• Asimina triloba – Iowa Golden
• Asimina triloba – IXL
• Asimina triloba – Jack Irvine #1
• Asimina triloba – Jumbo Lucky S
• Asimina triloba – Kentucky Champion
• Asimina triloba – KSU “Ralph’s Wonderful”
• Asimina triloba – KSU (2-12)
• Asimina triloba – KSU (4-1) “Chappell”
• Asimina triloba – KSU (7-5) “Benson”
• Asimina triloba – KSU (8-2) “Atwood”
• Asimina triloba – KSU (G9-109)
• Asimina triloba – KSU (G9-111)
• Asimina triloba – KSU (HI 1-4) “Pomper’s Choice”
• Asimina triloba – KSU (HI 7-1) “Dunnigan”
• Asimina triloba – KSU (HY 3-120) “State Fair”
• Asimina triloba – KY Legend “Titan” Woody Walker
• Asimina triloba – LA Davis
• Asimina triloba – LA Joy
• Asimina triloba – LA Sue
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (166-13) “Maria’s Joy”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (166-16)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (166-20)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (166-20) x Lehman (275-48)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (166-66) “Canary”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (250-30) “Jerry’s Delight”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (250-39) “Jerry’s Big Girl”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-17) “October Moon”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-48) “Lehman’s Delight” [AT]
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-50)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-56) “Benny’s Favorite”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-69)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-70)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (400-27N)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (VE-21)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (X-55) “Oreana’s Orange”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (X-65) “Sweet Potato”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (X-66) “Kentucky Wonder”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman’s Chiffon
• Asimina triloba – Lehman’s Choice
• Asimina triloba – Lehman’s Select
• Asimina triloba – Lynn’s Favorite
• Asimina triloba – Mango
• Asimina triloba – Mango x Wabash
• Asimina triloba – Marshmallow
• Asimina triloba – Mary Foos Johnson
• Asimina triloba – Mitchell [AT]
• Asimina triloba – Nash “Fulbright’s Delight”
• Asimina triloba – Nash “Looking Glass Gold”
• Asimina triloba – Nash “Shiawassee Sweet”
• Asimina triloba – Neal’s Nameless
• Asimina triloba – Needmore
• Asimina triloba – Noel Blanc
• Asimina triloba – North
• Asimina triloba – Nyomi’s Delicious
• Asimina triloba – Ohio #1
• Asimina triloba – Overleese
• Asimina triloba – PA Golden #1
• Asimina triloba – PA Golden #2
• Asimina triloba – PA Golden #3
• Asimina triloba – PA Golden #4
• Asimina triloba – Pawpaw Foundation (9-58)
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Allegheny”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Mammoth X”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Mammoth” x Peterson (2-10)
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Potomac”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Rappahannock”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Shenandoah”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Susquehanna”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Wabash”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson (10-35) “Tallahatchie”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson (2-10)
• Asimina triloba – Peterson (2-10) x Peterson “Mammoth”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson (2-10) x Summer Delight
• Asimina triloba – Petrichor #1
• Asimina triloba – Petrichor #2
• Asimina triloba – Petrichor #3
• Asimina triloba – Petrichor #4
• Asimina triloba – Prima 1216
• Asimina triloba – Prolific
• Asimina triloba – Puddin Cup (PC-1)
• Asimina triloba – Quaker’s Delight
• Asimina triloba – Rebecca’s Gold
• Asimina triloba – SAA Overleese
• Asimina triloba – SAA Zimmerman
• Asimina triloba – Sam Norris #15
• Asimina triloba – Sam Norris #7
• Asimina triloba – Spilt Milk
• Asimina triloba – Sri Vishnu
• Asimina triloba – Summer Delight
• Asimina triloba – Sun-Glo
• Asimina triloba – Sundog
• Asimina triloba – Sunflower
• Asimina triloba – Sunsprout
• Asimina triloba – Sweet Alice
• Asimina triloba – Sweet Sue
• Asimina triloba – Sweet Virginia
• Asimina triloba – Taylor “1968”
• Asimina triloba – Taytwo
• Asimina triloba – TLC
• Asimina triloba – Tollgate
• Asimina triloba – Tropical Treat
• Asimina triloba – Variegata
• Asimina triloba – Velvet Pineapple (VP-1)
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Asterion”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Atria”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Betria”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Canopus”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Chateau Rouge”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Gatria”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Jim’s Nebula”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Regulus”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Rigel”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “RLG4”
• Asimina triloba – Wells
• Asimina triloba – West
• Asimina triloba – Wilson
• Asimina triloba – Windstar
• Asimina triloba – Yuri’s Russian
• Asimina triloba – Zimmerman

Following pawpaw plants could not yet be aquired:

• Asimina triloba – (G-2) “College Park, MD”
• Asimina triloba – Arkansas Beauty
• Asimina triloba – Autumn Surprise
• Asimina triloba – Barrow’s Bounty
• Asimina triloba – Belle
• Asimina triloba – Betty Wirt
• Asimina triloba – Bonnie
• Asimina triloba – British Bulldog
• Asimina triloba – Broad
• Asimina triloba – Brushy Mountain
• Asimina triloba – Buckman
• Asimina triloba – Burlington [AT]
• Asimina triloba – Cale’s Creek
• Asimina triloba – Cheatwood
• Asimina triloba – Cheely
• Asimina triloba – Cullman Late
• Asimina triloba – Dale
• Asimina triloba – Danika
• Asimina triloba – Dr. Potter
• Asimina triloba – Duck
• Asimina triloba – Early Best
• Asimina triloba – Early Cluster
• Asimina triloba – Early Gold
• Asimina triloba – Early Surprise
• Asimina triloba – East
• Asimina triloba – Eileen
• Asimina triloba – Endicott
• Asimina triloba – Fairchild
• Asimina triloba – Fairchild #2
• Asimina triloba – Franklin Valley Gold
• Asimina triloba – Front
• Asimina triloba – G-1
• Asimina triloba – Gable
• Asimina triloba – Georgia
• Asimina triloba – Ghent 2 Blom
• Asimina triloba – Glaser
• Asimina triloba – Golden Moon
• Asimina triloba – Hale #5
• Asimina triloba – Hann
• Asimina triloba – Hardy Wonder
• Asimina triloba – Hayes
• Asimina triloba – HAZ-1
• Asimina triloba – Hengst
• Asimina triloba – Hoberg
• Asimina triloba – Holt
• Asimina triloba – Holtwood
• Asimina triloba – Hope
• Asimina triloba – Hope’s August
• Asimina triloba – Hope’s September
• Asimina triloba – Ithaca
• Asimina triloba – Kercheval
• Asimina triloba – Ketter
• Asimina triloba – Kirsten
• Asimina triloba – KSU (2-11)
• Asimina triloba – KSU (G4-25) “Pina Colada”
• Asimina triloba – KSU (G6-120) “Jeremy’s Gold”
• Asimina triloba – KSU (G9-108)
• Asimina triloba – KSU #27
• Asimina triloba – Kurle
• Asimina triloba – LA Natural
• Asimina triloba – Lady D
• Asimina triloba – Lawvere
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-25)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-56N)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-56S)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (275-60)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (400-27S)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (400-50)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (VE-5)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (VE-9)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (X-42) “Gator”
• Asimina triloba – Lehman (X-43)
• Asimina triloba – Lehman’s Legacy #1
• Asimina triloba – Lehman’s Legacy #2
• Asimina triloba – Lehman’s Legacy #3
• Asimina triloba – Lehman’s Legacy #5
• Asimina triloba – Lehman’s Legacy #6
• Asimina triloba – Lehman’s Legacy #7
• Asimina triloba – Little Rosie
• Asimina triloba – Long John
• Asimina triloba – Louisiana Native
• Asimina triloba – M-1
• Asimina triloba – Mark Twain
• Asimina triloba – Martin
• Asimina triloba – Mason/WLW
• Asimina triloba – Middletown
• Asimina triloba – Moon-Glo
• Asimina triloba – Mudge
• Asimina triloba – Nash “MSU Golden”
• Asimina triloba – Nash “Super Mario”
• Asimina triloba – Nevaeh Faith
• Asimina triloba – NRVT (3-10)
• Asimina triloba – NRVT (3-4)
• Asimina triloba – Osbourne
• Asimina triloba – Oswald
• Asimina triloba – Parks #45
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Kanawha”
• Asimina triloba – Peterson “Mammoth” x Summer Delight
• Asimina triloba – Petrichor #5
• Asimina triloba – Petrichor #6
• Asimina triloba – Pineapple
• Asimina triloba – Potter
• Asimina triloba – Prince Caspian
• Asimina triloba – Probst Early
• Asimina triloba – Puddin Cup seedling (PC-3)
• Asimina triloba – Rees
• Asimina triloba – Roach
• Asimina triloba – RS
• Asimina triloba – Ruby Keenan
• Asimina triloba – SAB Overleese
• Asimina triloba – Schriber
• Asimina triloba – Scott
• Asimina triloba – Shannondale
• Asimina triloba – Shawnee Trail
• Asimina triloba – Sibley
• Asimina triloba – Silver Creek
• Asimina triloba – Simina
• Asimina triloba – Sochi #11
• Asimina triloba – Sochi #12
• Asimina triloba – Strawberry Flower
• Asimina triloba – Talbot
• Asimina triloba – Taylor “1930”
• Asimina triloba – Tiedke
• Asimina triloba – TNT
• Asimina triloba – Uncle Tom
• Asimina triloba – UVM #1
• Asimina triloba – Valentina
• Asimina triloba – Van Der Bogart
• Asimina triloba – Velvet Pineapple seedling (VP-3)
• Asimina triloba – Vena
• Asimina triloba – Victoria
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Adam’s Wowee”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Cider Patch”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Corner Pocket”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Homestead”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Jennifer’s Twin”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Plymouth”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Special”
• Asimina triloba – Wahl “Thayer’s Twin”
• Asimina triloba – Walters
• Asimina triloba – Winter Delight