Pawpaw Tree Varieties

Petrichor Pawpaw Tree Varieties

Included in each description is the average fruit weight in grams (higher the better) 

and the percentage of seeds to flesh (lower the better).

Petrichor 1 221 g   6.4%

Sweet, late fruit ripening, freestone. Elongated fruit. Heavy yielding tree. Minor bitterness when over-ripe. Seed came from a NC farmer’s market.

Petrichor 2 133 g   7.6%

Very sweet, creamy, buttery, potpourri, banana, mango, and a slight floral bouquet at the end. Very prolific medium sized fruit producer. Nature’s pudding. Seed came from a NC farmer’s market.

Petrichor 3 352 g   3.1%

Our premier selection! Very sweet and tasty, fruity, cream and custard, hints of vanilla with XL fruit and small seed ratio, freestone, aromatic when ripe and skin yellows slightly. Great texture and thin skinned. Seed came from a NC farmer’s market or local co-op.

Petrichor 4 247 g   4.6%

Creamy, coconut, pina colada. Freestone with typically a single row of seeds. Sweet with light orange flesh. Earliest seeds to sprout in the greenhouse every year. Seed came from a NC farmer’s market or local co-op. 

Established Pawpaw Tree Varieties

The varieties below that include the average weight and seed to flesh ratio are representative of the trees I am directly caring for in the time I have had them. 

Updated each harvest season!

Sunflower 306 g   5.8%

Well established and very desirable variety, buttery, creamy, banana custard, vanilla, very juicy, can be bland to start but has a sweet finish. One of the few self pollinating varieties, good for small gardens with room for only one tree. Late ripening from Kansas.

Mango 218 g   6.3%

Well established and very desired variety. Medium sized fruit, early ripening, orange flesh like a mango, very smooth texture. Collected from Georgia in 1970.

Atwood 286 g   5.1%

KSU’s first released variety. Has medium sized fruit with XL seeds but good seed to flesh ratio. White colored flesh is creamy and sweet. Heavy yielding! Permission required to propagate.

Susquehanna 364 g   2.9%

Excellent Peterson variety with great flavor, low seed percentage, and large size. Sweet and buttery with a firm melting texture. Early ripening with moderate yields. Permission required to propagate.

Overleese 336 g   4.7%

Subtly flavored with a juicy finish and freestone. Larger fruit with low seed percentage. Minor bitterness at the end. Late ripening. Selected in 1950 from the wild in Indiana.

Lehman's Select  130 g 4.7%
Sweet and tasty, small fruit - descendant of well known variety with excellent fruit. 

Other Established Pawpaw Varieties 

(not available in our nursery...yet!)

Asterion—New variety, very large fruit size, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy production, late season

Atria—Large, elongated fruit, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy production, mid season

Betria—Large fruit size, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy production, mid season. We have a good supply of scion wood of this variety.

Canopus—New variety, very large fruit size, low seed, excellent flavor, very heavy production, late season

Gatria—Large fruit size, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy production, mid season

Halvin–Medium to large fruit, excellent flavor, early ripening, from SW Iowa, near the NW limit of the pawpaw’s native range.

Iowa Golden-Heavy bearing of large fruit with excellent flavor. Strong color break at ripening. Unusually even ripening time–most of the fruit ripens in just a few days.

NC1—Davis seedling, large fruit, low seed, excellent flavor, cold hardy, late season

PA Golden I and II—Med-large fruit, very heavy bearing, low seed, excellent flavor, early season

Prolific—Med-large fruit, heavy bearing, seedy, excellent flavor, mid-late season

fruit, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy bearing, early season

Regulus—Extremely heavy bearing, extremely large fruit, low seed, excellent flavor, mid season

Rigel—large fruit, heavy bearing, low seed, excellent flavor, mid season

RLG4–Medium sized fruit, excellent flavor, very early ripening, original tree from Northfield, MN.

SAA Overlease—Overlease seedling, large fruit, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy bearing, mid season.

Sundog–Seedling of a wild Iowa tree with small to medium fruit, excellent flavor, early ripening, and definitely self-fertile. This is one to plant if you only have room for one tree.

And many, many more... 

with many more to come after that!!!

Thanks for helping to spread this blessing of a plant!