Flag Pawpaw

Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a slow grower, like our dwarf pawpaw, about a foot a year. It is a much-branched shrub or small tree, usually 6 to 12 feet tall and taller than wide, and it can reach 15 feet. New shoots and young leaves carry bright red hairs.

Large white flowers with a lemony scent, up to 4 inches across, open from late winter into early summer. The inner petals have a purple zone and are rarely pink or red. The fruit is a green berry 2 to 3 1/2 inches long, and birds and small mammals eat it.

It grows on white and yellow sand ridges in oak and pine woods, in scrub, on coastal dunes and at hammock edges, from Glades County north to Clay County. It is found only in Florida.

How to grow Flag Pawpaw

Flag pawpaw needs full sun or part sun and deep, dry, acid sand that drains fast. It takes long dry spells once rooted, but not flooding by salt water. Set plants 8 feet apart, and keep each one 4 feet from a wall. It is small enough to grow within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship potted. The long taproot makes moving it hard, 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 in fall, three quarters of an inch deep, before it dries. For spring, hold it damp in the refrigerator for 60 to 100 days first. Germination is slow, and these are the figures for pawpaws in general.

Water weekly through the first two summers, since young plants need care to settle in. Prune only to remove dead wood.

Other pawpaws studied cannot pollinate their own flowers, so plant two or more from different seed for fruit. Flies and beetles pollinate the flowers. Zebra swallowtail and pawpaw sphinx caterpillars feed on the leaves.