# Dwarf Pawpaw (Asimina parviflora)

> A pawpaw in miniature for dry southern woods, with maroon spring flowers, small sweet fruit and leaves that feed zebra swallowtail caterpillars.

Also called smallflower pawpaw, small-flowered pawpaw, small-fruited pawpaw. Category: Nut & Fruit Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-pawpaw/

![Dwarf pawpaw (Asimina parviflora) small maroon flowers along a bare twig before the leaves open](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/dwarf-pawpaw-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAsimina_parviflora_257978232.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 3 to 12 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 10
- Grows wild in: Dry uplands, sandy barrens and the forest understory
- Native range: 10 states, north to Virginia, south to Florida and west to Texas (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia)
- Sun: Part, Full
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Slow
- Traits: Edible, Wildlife value, Showy flowers
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Dwarf pawpaw is the pawpaw in miniature, a shrub with the flowers, shoots and leaves of pawpaw on a smaller scale. Its fruit is 1 to 3 inches long, against 3 to 6 on pawpaw. In North Carolina the two pawpaws are the only food of zebra swallowtail caterpillars. Virginia keeps it on its watchlist of plants that are uncommon there but not rare, and NatureServe ranks it imperiled in Arkansas. Grow it as an understory shrub beneath pines or oaks, where it can bear a small crop and feed the butterflies.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Dwarf pawpaw grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. It usually stands 6 to 8 feet tall and 2 to 6 feet wide, within a range of 3 to 12 feet. It reaches tree size only in the limestone country of Florida. Seedlings bear their first fruit at about 4 years in the open, or about 7 years under trees.

Brownish-purple flowers about three quarters of an inch across sit singly along last year's shoots in April and May, before the leaves. They have a faintly fetid scent. The fruit is a greenish-yellow berry 1 to 3 inches long that ripens from July to September. Its flesh is sweet, and songbirds, wild turkeys, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, black bears and foxes eat it.

It grows wild from southeast Virginia to Florida and west to Arkansas and east Texas. Its home is sands and sandy loams in dry pine and oak woods, and sandy alluvium on river terraces.

## How to grow Dwarf Pawpaw

Dwarf pawpaw prefers part shade and takes full sun once it is established. It wants loose, well-drained soil, acid to neutral and moist to dry. It fails in dry, compacted ground. Set plants 6 feet apart, and keep them 3 feet from a wall. It stays small enough to grow within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship potted. The long taproot makes moving it difficult, so plant from the pot with the root ball whole, in a hole wider than the pot and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Sow fresh seed outdoors in fall, three quarters of an inch deep. For spring, hold it damp in the refrigerator for 60 to 90 days first. Germination is slow and uneven.

Water weekly through the first two summers, since young plants need some care to settle in. Give them light shade at first, because only established plants take full sun. Keep a mulch over the roots, and prune only to remove dead wood.

One plant will not set fruit alone, so plant two or more from different seed. Flies and beetles pollinate the flowers. Wild stands of pawpaws set little fruit, because pollination is poor. The fruit often drops while still hard, green and sour, and it softens if laid out on a tray.

## Sources

- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Asimina parviflora, Kral](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500179)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Asimina parviflora](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/asimina-parviflora/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Asimina parviflora](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ASPA18)
- [Florida Native Plant Society: Asimina parviflora](https://www.fnps.org/plant/asimina-parviflora)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Asimina chapter, Bonner](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Asimina.pdf)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Asimina parviflora](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.139930/Asimina_parviflora)
- [Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia: Rare Plants, June 2026](https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/plantlist-current.pdf)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Dwarf Pawpaw, add ?species=dwarf-pawpaw with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=dwarf-pawpaw&zone=7&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Dwarf Pawpaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=dwarf-pawpaw): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=dwarf-pawpaw
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Dwarf Pawpaw is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=dwarf-pawpaw
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Dwarf Pawpaw needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=dwarf-pawpaw:2
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Dwarf Pawpaw flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.