# Netted Pawpaw (Asimina reticulata) > A low Florida pawpaw of flatwoods and scrub, with fragrant white flowers banded dark purple inside from winter into spring, and edible fruit. Also called reticulate pawpaw, netleaf pawpaw, Asimina cuneata. Category: Nut & Fruit Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/netted-pawpaw/ ![Netted pawpaw (Asimina reticulata) flower with creamy white outer petals and maroon inner petals](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/netted-pawpaw-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAsimina_reticulata_64575643.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 1 to 5 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 8 to 10 - Grows wild in: Sandy barrens, old fields and edges - Native range: Florida and Georgia - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Average, Dry - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Showy flowers, Edible, Wildlife value - 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 Netted pawpaw is a low, much-branched shrub of pine flatwoods, scrub and old pastures across peninsular Florida and just into southeast Georgia. Its leaves are netted with veins, and young ones carry orange hairs beneath. Its fragrant flowers open in winter and spring, creamy white with a dark purple band inside. It is common in central Florida, but Georgia ranks it historical, with no recent record there. Set it in a sunny, sandy bed or a flatwoods garden, where its flowers open in winter before the leaves. ## Size, growth and what to expect It grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. It is a low, much-branched shrub, usually 1 to 3 feet tall and up to 5, and taller than wide. Its leaves drop briefly in winter, and new ones come in February and March. Nodding flowers 2 to 3 inches across open from December into May, most in late winter and spring. They are creamy white outside, with a broad dark purple band inside, and they have a strong, spicy scent. The fruit is a yellow-green berry 1 1/2 to 3 inches long, edible, and it ripens in spring and summer. Birds and small mammals eat it. It grows in pine and scrubby flatwoods, scrub, sandhills and old pastures, from southeast Georgia south to Miami-Dade and Collier Counties. It is common in central Florida. ## How to grow Netted Pawpaw Netted pawpaw needs full sun or light shade and a sandy, acid soil that drains well and holds little humus. It takes short dry spells once rooted, but not flooding or salt water. Set plants 3 feet apart, and keep each one 2 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. Young plants need care to settle in. Each flower is female before it turns male and cannot pollinate itself, so plant two or more from different seed for fruit. Beetles are its commonest visitors, and flies pollinate it too. It crosses with woolly and southern pawpaws where they grow together. Zebra swallowtail and pawpaw sphinx caterpillars feed on the leaves. ## Sources - [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Asimina reticulata, Kral](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500181) - [NatureServe Explorer: Asimina reticulata](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.161695/Asimina_reticulata) - [Florida Native Plant Society: Asimina reticulata](https://www.fnps.org/plant/asimina-reticulata) - [Institute for Regional Conservation, Natives for Your Neighborhood: Asimina reticulata](https://www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantdetail.asp?tx=Asimreti) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Native Plant Database: Asimina reticulata](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ASRE7) - [Florida Wildflower Foundation: Flower Friday, Asimina reticulata](https://www.flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-asimina-reticulata/) - [Cox, A. C. 1998. Comparative reproductive biology of two Florida pawpaws, Asimina reticulata and Asimina tetramera. Florida International University thesis](https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2656) - [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Four-petal pawpaw 5-Year Review, 2022](https://ecosphere-documents-production-public.s3.amazonaws.com/sams/public_docs/species_nonpublish/3628.pdf) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Asimina chapter, Bonner](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Asimina.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 Netted Pawpaw, add ?species=netted-pawpaw with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=netted-pawpaw&zone=8&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Netted Pawpaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=netted-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=netted-pawpaw - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Netted 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=netted-pawpaw - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Netted 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=netted-pawpaw:2 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Netted Pawpaw flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.