FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Usually an understory shrub. Distinctive acrid odor of crushed leaves helps in recognition, along with flowers and fruits when present.
Synonym(s): Orchidocarpum arietinum
Description: Deciduous understory shrub or small tree up to 10 m, often forming colonies.
Leaves: Alternate, entire, oblanceolate leaves, with acuminate tips, about 23 cm long and 8 cm wide. Leaves malodorous when crushed.
Flowers/Fruit: Large (3 to 4 cm) burgundy flowers with 6 petals and 3 burgundy sepals. Fruits fleshy, yellow and banana-like with large brown seeds, up to 12 cm long. Unripe fruits unsafe for human consumption. Flowers March to May, before leaves; fruits August to October.
Habit and Range: Rich slopes, low woods, bottomlands; within the Coastal Plain, more common in the inner portion, along brownwater rivers.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Leaves of Asimina triloba (common pawpaw) can be confused with Aesculus sylvatica (painted buckeye), which has leaves in a similar arrangement but margins are serrated.
Click here to view Aesculus sylvatica.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
