In addition to the tropical Annona relatives, there are eight members of the Asimina genus that are native to the extreme southeastern states of Florida and Georgia. Description of the Plant Pawpaw is a small, deciduous tree that may attain 5 to 10 m in height. In the forest understory, trees often exist in clumps or thickets. This may result from root suckering or seedlings developing from fruits that dropped to the ground from an original seedling tree. In sunny locations, trees typically assume a pyramidal habit, straight trunk and lush, dark green, long, drooping leaves that turn gold and brown in color during the fall.
Flowers emerge before leaves in mid spring.
The blossoms occur singly on previous year's wood and may reach up to 5 cm in diameter. Fruit set in the wild is usually low and may be pollinator or resource-limited but under cultivation, tremendous fruit loads have been observed. This highly aromatic, climacteric fruit has a ripe taste that resembles a creamy mixture of banana, mango, and pineapple. With refrigeration, fruit can be held up to 3 weeks while maintaining good eating quality. Within the fruit, there are two rows of large, brown, bean shaped, laterally compressed seeds that may be up to 3 cm long.