Asimina is a genus of small trees or shrubs described as a genus in 1763. Asimina is the only temperate genus in the tropical and subtropical flowering plant family Annonaceae. Asimina have large, simple leaves and large fruit. It is native to eastern North America and collectively referred to as pawpaw. The genus includes the widespread common pawpaw Asimina triloba, which bears the largest edible fruit indigenous to the United States. Pawpaws are native to 26 states of the U.S. and to Ontario in Canada. The common pawpaw is a patch-forming (clonal) understory tree found in well-drained, deep, fertile bottomland and hilly upland habitat. Pawpaws are in the same plant family (Annonaceae) as the custard apple, cherimoya, sweetsop, soursop, and ylang-ylang; the genus is the only member of that family not confined to the tropics.
Soursop is the fruit of Annona muricata, a broadleaf, flowering, evergreen tree. It is native to the tropical regions of the Americas and the Caribbean and is widely propagated. It is in the same genus, Annona, as cherimoya and is in the Annonaceae family.
The Annonaceae are a family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest family in the Magnoliales. Several genera produce edible fruit, most notably Annona, Anonidium, Asimina, Rollinia, and Uvaria. Its type genus is Annona. The family is concentrated in the tropics, with few species found in temperate regions. About 900 species are Neotropical, 450 are Afrotropical, and the remaining are Indomalayan.
The cherimoya, also spelled chirimoya and called chirimuya by the Inca people, is a species of edible fruit-bearing plant in the genus Annona, from the family Annonaceae, which includes the closely related sweetsop and soursop. The plant has long been believed to be native to Ecuador and Peru, with cultivation practised in the Andes and Central America, although a recent hypothesis postulates Central America as the origin instead, because many of the plant's wild relatives occur in this area.
Eurytides marcellus, the zebra swallowtail, is a swallowtail butterfly native to the eastern United States and south-eastern Canada. It is the state butterfly of Tennessee. Its distinctive wing shape and long tails make it easy to identify, and its black-and-white-striped pattern is reminiscent of a zebra. The butterflies are closely associated with pawpaws, and are rarely found far from these trees. The green or black caterpillars feed on the leaves of various pawpaw species, while the adults feed on flower nectar and minerals from damp soil.
Carrion flowers, also known as corpse flowers or stinking flowers, are mimetic flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting flesh. Apart from the scent, carrion flowers often display additional characteristics that contribute to the mimesis of a decaying corpse. These include their specific coloration, the presence of setae and orifice-like flower architecture. Carrion flowers attract mostly scavenging flies and beetles as pollinators. Some species may trap the insects temporarily to ensure the gathering and transfer of pollen.
Asimina triloba, the American papaw, pawpaw, paw paw, or paw-paw, among many regional names, is a small deciduous tree native to the eastern United States and southern Ontario, Canada, producing a large, yellowish-green to brown fruit. Asimina is the only temperate genus in the tropical and subtropical flowering plant family Annonaceae, and Asimina triloba has the most northern range of all. Well-known tropical fruits of different genera in family Annonaceae include the custard-apple, cherimoya, sweetsop, ylang-ylang, and soursop.
Asimina tetramera, commonly known as the four-petal pawpaw, is a rare species of small tree or perennial shrub endemic to Martin and Palm Beach Counties in the state of Florida. The species is currently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and as endangered by the International Union for Conservation. The four-petal pawpaw is part of the family Annonaceae alongside other Asimina species.
Acetogenins are a class of polyketide natural products found in plants of the family Annonaceae. They are characterized by linear 32- or 34-carbon chains containing oxygenated functional groups including hydroxyls, ketones, epoxides, tetrahydrofurans and tetrahydropyrans. They are often terminated with a lactone or butenolide. Over 400 members of this family of compounds have been isolated from 51 different species of plants. Many acetogenins are characterized by neurotoxicity.
Asimina pulchella is a rare species of flowering plant in the custard apple family known by the common names beautiful pawpaw, royal false pawpaw, and white squirrel banana. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Asimina rugelii is a rare species of flowering plant in the custard apple family known by the common names Rugel's pawpaw, Rugel's false pawpaw, and yellow squirrel banana. It is endemic to Volusia County, Florida, in the United States, where there are fewer than 5000 plants remaining in severely fragmented habitat. The main threat to this species is habitat destruction and degradation. It was federally listed as an endangered species in 1986.
Asimina parviflora, the smallflower pawpaw, is a small to medium shrub in the custard apple family.
Asimina obovata, the bigflower pawpaw, is a shrub or small tree in the custard apple family. It is an endemic native to Florida, where it is found on open sandy hammocks and in dry woods. Showy white flowers in late winter to early summer are followed by large green edible fruit. Its pollen is shed as permanent tetrads. Along with the other members of the genus, it serves as a host plant for zebra swallowtail butterfly and pawpaw sphinx moth
Asimina longifolia, the slimleaf pawpaw, is a shrub in the custard apple family. It is native to the Southeastern United States where it is found on the coastal plain. Its preferred habitat is dry, sandy pinelands.
Asimina pygmaea, the dwarf pawpaw or gopher berry, is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Florida and Georgia in the United States. William Bartram, the American naturalist who first formally described the species using the basionym Annona pygmaea, named it after its dwarfed stature.
Asimina reticulata, the netted pawpaw, is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Florida in the United States.
Monodora stenopetala is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Malawi and Mozambique. Daniel Oliver, the English botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its narrow petals.
Pseuduvaria reticulata is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Bangladesh, Borneo, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Myanmar and Sumatra. Carl Ludwig Blume, the botanist who first formally described the species under the basionym Uvaria reticulata, named it after the net-like pattern of veins on the underside of its leaves.
Pseuduvaria rugosa is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Java, Laos, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, the Nicobar Islands, Sumatra and Thailand. Carl Ludwig Blume, the botanist who first formally described the species under the basionym Uvaria rugosa, named it after its wrinkled fruit.
Asimina × piedmontana, known as the Piedmont hybrid pawpaw, is a hybrid species of pawpaw. It is a cross between the species Asimina triloba and Asimina parviflora.
