Common Pawpaw
Asimina triloba
Found in alluvial forests, other moist, nutrient-rich forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 15–30 feet
- Spread
- 15–30 feet
- Light
- Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 22.5 ft apart from its recorded spread. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- March to May
- Fruiting season
- August to October
Recorded in 13 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 111 animals.
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Common Ground-doveColumbina passerina
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- Eurasian Collared-doveStreptopelia decaocto
- Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Fish CrowCorvus ossifragus
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- Fulvous Whistling-duckDendrocygna bicolor
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreus
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleuca
Care
- Avoid permanently wet soil.
Who uses this plant?
15CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Asimina
- Eurytides marcellusZebra Swallowtail
- Acharia stimuleaSaddleback Caterpillar Moth
- Adoneta spinuloidesPurple-Crested Slug
- Agrius cingulataPink-Spotted Hawkmoth, Sweet Potatoe Caterpillar
- Apatelodes torrefactaSpotted Apatelodes
- Choristoneura obsoletanaObsolete Leafroller
- Dolba hyloeusPawpaw Sphinx
- Epimecis hortariaTulip-Tree Beauty
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Omphalocera cariosaMoonseed Webworm
Show all 15
- Omphalocera munroeiAsimina Webworm
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Parasa indeterminaStinging Rose Caterpillar Moth, Rose Slug Caterpillar
- Prolimacodes badiaSkiff Moth, Skiff Caterpillar
- Talponia plummerianaPawpaw Peduncle Borer, Speckled Talponia
3BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Asimina
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Annonaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–9b
- Soil pH
- Acidic
- Flower color
- Brown/copper, purple or red
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth habit
- Single stem
- Foliage color
- Dark green
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- October
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “March to May” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Brown/copper, purple or red” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Dark green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox, USDA PLANTS differ) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox, USDA PLANTS differ) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Growth habit · “Single stem” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Slow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 5a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “15–30 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain differ)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain differ)
- Soil pH · “Acidic” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “15–30 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Pawpaw
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Growing cautions
- Suckers and forms colonies. Root suckers can be troublesome in the landscape. NC State Extension Plant Toolbox
- Needs good drainage. Avoid permanently wet soil. NC State Extension Plant Toolbox
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

























