Papaw

a small tree or shrub of eastern North America. There are eight species in the United States, two of which are in cultivation for their large, showy spring flowers and handsome foliage. The common Indian papaw is a small tree noted for fleshy berries from two to six inches long. This papaw grows native from Kansas to New York and southward. The fruit has a rich brown color. It has a highly aromatic flavor. The seed is large. It has been suggested that the papaw is capable of development into an important American fruit. The papaw of the tropics, quite another thing, is the fruit of a species of palm. This fruit has a shape, color, and length that has gained for it the name of false banana.