5 Pawpaw seeds – Shenandoah variety – (already cold stratified)

Fresh 2022 seed and ready to plant! Already cold stratified (in the refrigerator for 3 months). Never dried out and near 100% germination in my experience.   Currently have Shenandoah and Sunflower variety seed available. (Note: While this is from a Shenandoah or Sunflower tree, all named varieties are grafted. Seed must be cross pollinated so this seed will produce a plant with different genetics, but possibly better tasting fruit. All seed for sale is the product of cross pollination of named varieties ONLY. So you are guaranteed to get an excellent quality Pawpaw fruit.)   ________   About Pawpaws:   Asimina triloba, or pawpaw, is a small understory tree native to moist, rich bottomland forests, wooded slopes, and stream banks throughout much of the eastern United States. Pawpaws often form patches or thickets by underground root suckers, meaning that the trees in a patch are usually all genetic clones. Dark maroon, cup-shaped blooms hang upside-down from the branches in spring and are pollinated by insects.     The fruits can reach up to 5″ long and 1.5 lbs. When the fruits ripen in early fall, the outer skin may turn various shades of pale yellow-green to orange, and they give off a sweet aroma reminiscent of tropical fruits. The yellow pulp has a soft texture, and the taste has been described as a mixture of banana, papaya, mango, and pineapple, sometimes with a melon or bitter aftertaste. They are most comparable to bananas in terms of nutrition but have higher levels of calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, monounsaturated fat, and protein.   When they are eaten, the fruits are often enjoyed raw or used to make ice creams, puddings, pies, and other sweets. Because pawpaw fruit over-ripens quickly and bruises easily, it does not ship well and is not commercially available in its fresh form.   The tasty and nutritious fruit isn’t the only reason to consider adding a pawpaw to your garden. The pawpaw is a Plant of Merit and is native to Missouri. In fall, the tree adds vibrant color to the landscape when its leaves turn shades of bright yellow. The foliage is also the larval food source for the zebra swallowtail, which lays its eggs on Asimina species. In much of this butterfly’s native range (including Missouri), Asimina triloba is the only host plant it can utilize.