Pawpaw Tree

Pawpaw Tree For Sale

The Pawpaw tree is a flowering fruit tree native to the Eastern United States and Canada. It usually grows as an understory tree in temperate deciduous forests. The word comes from the Algonquian word papaya, meaning "enlarge," but it has also been suggested that it comes from pawpau, a name referring to the plant's resemblance to a monkey's paw.

At TN Nursery, our paw paw trees come pre-pollinated. We grow them in production greenhouses, and we guarantee your trees will bear fruit once they mature. Don't worry about figuring it out; that's what we are here for.

Uses of Pawpaw Trees In Your Yard

Native Americans used the fruits from this tree as food, drink, and for curing ailments. The fruit was eaten raw, and the juice was used to flavor foods and make a simple syrup. The fruit was also fermented into an alcoholic beverage. Today, the fermented fruit is popular in many parts of the United States and Canada as a soft drink known as "Paw Paw wine."

The seeds have been used to treat diarrhea in children. These trees are the source of a variety of pawpaw medicines. This shrub oil is used for arthritis and relieves joint pain, and the root bark is a source of an estrogen-like compound that may have contraceptive effects. Its leaves contain high omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins A, B, C, and D. The American Indians used this tree to treat skin and respiratory problems, rashes, heartburn, sore throats, and earaches.

Pawpaw Cultivation

The pawpaw is easy to grow in well-drained, moist soil or preferably in a deep, rich loam. It thrives in slightly acidic soil with a pH of 4.5 to 5.5 and can grow in full sun or partial shade, though it thrives in the dappled shade (light shade with some sunlight). It can also be grown as a container tree. Pawpaw trees are propagated from seed or by grafting onto dwarfing rootstocks.

About the pawpaw Seeds

The seeds ripen between August and October, and the fruit forms around March in warm weather areas and later in cooler regions. The fruits mature from late September to January in cold and warmer areas from April to early July. The pawpaw tree is a diploid species with two sets of chromosomes: one chromosome set (n) and two chromosome sets (2n).

Pawpaw trees are propagated by planting seeds, but this takes several years before the seedlings can be grown. The trees are hardy to zones 4-10 and do well in the coastal plain. Seeds germinate best where the soil temperature is between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. It is recommended that the seeds be sown at intervals of 2-3 weeks.