The pawpaw is a small tree native to mid-west and east-central United States.  It's claim to fame is it produces the largest fruits of any tree indigenous to the US.

The pawpaw tree is a slender tree whose trunk is seldom more than ten inches around.  It is an understory tree seldom growing more than 30 feet tall.

To find a pawpaw tree, look for a family of slender trees with smooth gray bark and large oblong leaves.  This tree propagates from the root system although the fruits do have seeds, most of which never germinate.  Pawpaw trees are most often found in forests consisting of young trees of other kinds.  Old growth forests often have no pawpaws because of too much shade.

This photo shows the progression of the pawpaw flower from green in the earliest stage to a rich maroon color as the flower grows.  When the petals fall, a small green point will be revealed on the limb which will grow and eventually ripen as a smooth skinned banana-like yellow fruit in late summer.

Through the Woods is a weekly nature photo column by Aaron Horrell. Find this column at semissourian.com to order a reprint of the photo. Find more work by Aaron at The Painted Wren Gallery.