Tree · Annonaceae
Pawpaw
Asimina triloba
Pawpaw is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,093 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Pawpaw at a glance
- Native in
- 1,093 counties, across 27 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −27°F
- Mature height
- 25 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −27°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Pawpaw is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,093 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,093 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 40 counties
- Arkansas 73 counties
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 4 counties
- Georgia 36 counties
- Illinois 80 counties
- Indiana 71 counties
- Iowa 2 counties
- Kansas 35 counties
- Kentucky 111 counties
- Louisiana 44 counties
- Michigan 21 counties
- Mississippi 31 counties
- Missouri 103 counties
- Nebraska 4 counties
- New Jersey 7 counties
- New York 11 counties
- North Carolina 48 counties
- Ohio 87 counties
- Oklahoma 10 counties
- Pennsylvania 32 counties
- South Carolina 16 counties
- Tennessee 74 counties
- Texas 12 counties
- Virginia 91 counties
- West Virginia 47 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 25 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 36 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.7 to 7.2
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 20 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −27°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 160
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Annonaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ASTR
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Asimina triloba (PLANTS symbol ASTR).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources