Pawpaw

Description

The Common Pawpaw is a small, native understory tree that typically occurs in woods and along ravines and streams. Large, elliptical, medium green leaves rtain color throughout summer into fall before turning yellow. Cup-shaped purple flowers appear in spring before giving way to edible, oblong, yellowish-green fruit which matures in early fall to dark brown. Fruits are frequently eaten raw or used in ice creams or pies, although they can produce nausea in some people. Wildlife eagerly seeks out the fruits and often beat humans to the harvest. Early Americans made a yellow dye from the pulp of the ripened fruit.