Petrichor Pawpaw Tree Varieties
Included in each description is the average fruit weight in grams (higher the better)
and the percentage of seeds to flesh (lower the better). The last stat is the largest fruit from that variety grown yet.
Petrichor 1 205 g 6.8% (largest fruit 395 g)
Sweet, late fruit ripening, freestone. Elongated fruit. Heavy yielding tree. Minor bitterness when over-ripe. Seed came from a NC farmer’s market.
Petrichor 2 123 g 7.5% (largest fruit 215 g)
Very sweet, creamy, buttery, potpourri, banana, mango, and a slight floral bouquet at the end. Very prolific medium sized fruit producer. Nature’s pudding. Seed came from a NC farmer’s market.
Petrichor 3 327 g 3.2% (largest fruit 584 g!)
Our premier selection! Very sweet and tasty, fruity, cream and custard, hints of vanilla with XL fruit and small seed ratio, freestone, aromatic when ripe and skin yellows slightly. Great texture and thin skinned. Seed came from a NC farmer’s market or local co-op.
Petrichor 4 237 g 4.7% (largest fruit 499 g)
Creamy, coconut, pina colada. Freestone with typically a single row of seeds. Sweet with light orange flesh. Earliest seeds to sprout in the greenhouse every year. Seed came from a NC farmer’s market or local co-op.
Established Pawpaw Tree Varieties
The varieties below that include the average weight and seed to flesh ratio are representative of the trees I am directly caring for in the time I have had them.
Updated each harvest season!
Sunflower 268 g 5.5% (largest fruit 400 g)
Well established and very desirable variety, buttery, creamy, banana custard, vanilla, very juicy, can be bland to start but has a sweet finish. One of the few self pollinating varieties, good for small gardens with room for only one tree. Late ripening from Kansas.
Mango 242 g 6.3% (largest fruit 305 g)
Well established and very desired variety. Medium sized fruit, early ripening, orange flesh like a mango, very smooth texture. Collected from Georgia in 1970.
Atwood 256 g 6.2% (largest fruit 467 g)
KSU’s first released variety. Has medium sized fruit with XL seeds but good seed to flesh ratio. White colored flesh is creamy and sweet. Heavy yielding!
Susquehanna 364 g 2.9% (largest fruit 506 g)
Excellent Peterson variety with great flavor, low seed percentage, and large size. Sweet and buttery with a firm melting texture. Early ripening with moderate yields.
Overleese 274 g 5.5% (largest fruit 387 g)
Subtly flavored with a juicy finish and freestone. Larger fruit with low seed percentage. Minor bitterness at the end. Late ripening. Selected in 1950 from the wild in Indiana.
Lehman's Select 121 g 7.3% (largest fruit 311 g)
Sweet and tasty, small fruit - descendant of well known variety with excellent fruit.
2025 Pawpaw Varieties *NEW*
(available for local pickup in the Fall - once the grafts have healed, please message me to reserve yours today!)
Petrichor 1, 2, 3, 4: See descriptions above!
Atria: Heavy bearers with low seed percentage and excellent flavor. Large, elongated fruit, heavy production, mid season.
Atwood: KSU’s first released variety. Has medium sized fruit with XL seeds but good seed to flesh ratio. White colored flesh is creamy and sweet. Heavy yielding!
Benson: A newer KSU release. Known for medium-large fruit, rich and delicious flavor, and often a creamy texture with a pleasant aroma. Mid season, very heavy fruit setting (150+ per tree).
Chappell: A very popular KSU release. Known for exceptionally large, high-quality fruit with excellent flavor (often described as rich, creamy, and sweet) and a good pulp-to-seed ratio. Mid-season ripening. One of the fastest growing varieties.
Free Byrd: Large to jumbo sized fruit, oval shaped. Sweet and smooth rich custard textures with low seed weight. Light yellow flesh, heavy producer, ripens early September. Seedling of Shenendoah selected by Larry Byrd.
Golden Moon: Often described as a productive variety with good-sized, flavorful fruit, sometimes with a golden-yellow flesh. Fruit color changes to yellow when ripe. Reported to be from one of the trees at Berea College.
Green River Belle: A newer selection from Neal Peterson, often described as having good flavor and productivity. Large fruits with exquisite flavor and texture. Low seed weight with a sweet mellow flavor.
Iowa Golden: An older, well-regarded cultivar known for productive trees and good-sized, flavorful fruit, often with a rich, sweet taste. It's considered reliable. Heavy bearing of large fruit with excellent flavor. Strong color break at ripening. Unusually even ripening time–most of the fruit ripens in just a few days.
Jerry's Big Girl: As the name suggests, known for very large fruit and heavy production. Reported to have fruit up to 2 pounds! It has won several awards at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival. Bred by Jerry Lehman in Indiana.
Mango: An older, well-known cultivar. Named for its somewhat mango-like flavor notes and sometimes shape. Produces good-sized fruit with a pleasant, sweet taste.
NC-1: Early ripening variety from Canada, produces abundant crops of large and flavorful fruit. Valued for its high pulp to seed ratio which means more delicious pawpaw flesh in each fruit.
Nyomi's Delicious: Large high quality fruit, from Berea, KY, early-ripening. Fruits show a light color break to yellow at ripening, and it tends strongly towards single-fruit bearing and is very productive. Thin skinned with delicious, thick and extra-custardy flesh that is yellow-orange, with a mild and very pleasant, sweet flavor that is just delicious. Very low seed weight and count. The mild flavor would widely appeal to people that are turned off by strong pawpaw flavors. Nurseryman Cliff England, who introduced this pawpaw variety, met an elderly woman in Berea, KY named Nyomi who had this beloved tree growing in her backyard (charmingly claiming to have a “magical cancer-killing fruit tree”), and subsequently introduced it into the nursery trade. This cultivar shows good disease resistance and is a vigorous, strong, fast grower.
Overleese: An older, very reliable cultivar from Ohio. Known for large, high-quality fruit with excellent, rich, sweet flavor and a good texture. A consistent producer. Selected in the wild by W. B. Ward in Rushville, Indiana, in 1950. Oval to round and few seeds with excellent flavor. It is a parent of many other improved cultivars including Peterson's Shenandoah. Exceptional quality, medium to large fruit and early ripening. Medium productivity and a very good seed to flesh ratio. Fruit keeps well.
Pennsylvania Golden 3: A popular pawpaw for growing in the pawpaw’s most northern range. Early ripening and very good quality. Fruits can get very large, up to 1 pound. The deep yellow, almost orange flesh is juicy and soft and has a refreshing, very pleasant tangy tropical fruity flavor. Trees are productive and cold-hardy.
Rappahannock: Neal Peterson cultivar. Known for its very few seeds (often just 2-3 large seeds per fruit) and a rich, sweet, creamy flavor. Ripens mid-season. Rappahannock is an unusual pawpaw tree because it holds it leaves horizontal. The pulp is a brighter yellow, the flavor is medium with a simple clear flavor. Firm flesh, good yields, 3% seed ratio, early harvest.
Rebecca's Gold: An older variety. Known for medium-sized fruit with a sweet, rich flavor and a good golden-yellow flesh. An excellent selection from Northern California with large, very sweet and richly flavored fruit. Selected from U.C. Davis seed in 1974 by J. M. Riley. The firm, smooth skin is easy to peel and yields a succulent flesh inside, making Rebecca's Gold a favorite for canning and eating fresh. Late ripener.
Sarah's Delight: hard to find information on this variety... Please let me know if you know anything about this one!
Sri Gold: Produces heavy yields of medium-large, delicious sweet fruits with smooth, custardy light yellow flesh of succulent texture and low seed weight. Flavor is bright, tropical, caramel and delectable- not too strong or too mild. Texture is delectable, soft, and gummy bear like. 'Suquehanna' x 'Sunflower' pawpaw parentage is obvious. Light yellow flesh color, very heavy producer, disease resistant - no Phylosticta leaf spot observed on this stout, robust and vigorous tree. Fruits are spotless, firm, very attractive with clean, smooth, very light green, durable skin with some color break to bright yellow. Fruits average 1/4 LB- 1/2 LB or more - some get quite large approaching 1 lb! Ripens mid into late September, which is considered somewhat mid-late season.
Sunflower: Well established and very desirable variety, buttery, creamy, banana custard, vanilla, very juicy, can be bland to start but has a sweet finish. One of the few self pollinating varieties, good for small gardens with room for only one tree. Late ripening from Kansas.
Tallahatchie: A KSU release. Known for medium-large fruit, good flavor, and often a creamy texture with exquisite flavor. Ms. Jones of KSU insisted that you must include this variety when making pawpaw ice cream. It has very few seeds with a seed to fruit ratio less than Shenandoah. Tallahatchie tends to bear large clusters which are impressive to see. However, it may require some thinning. Has pleasant aromas and a sweet mellow flavor with floral notes. Fruit ripens mid to late season. Fruit averages about 240 grams (9 oz) with a fruit to seed ratio of about 5%.
Wabash: Another cultivar from Peterson Pawpaws. Known for medium-large fruit with excellent flavor (often described as nutty, rich, and sweet) and a creamy texture. Often ripens mid-season. Very rich and sweet, large fruits and good yields make this a truly superior pawpaw tree! Overall excellent quality with a sweet flavor and a medium firm creamy rich texture. Wabash is prized for its abundant crops of large, sweet, high quality fruit, which often weighs over 1/2 lb. Percent seed ~ 6% by weight.
Windstar: Large, round fruit with great sweet flavor and texture and a lovely appearance. Low seed weight. It’s a cross between 2 superior Lehman cultivars, ‘275-48’ X ‘275-50’. Bred by Cliff England.
Other Pawpaw Varieties
(not available in our nursery...yet!)
Asterion—New variety, very large fruit size, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy production, late season
Atria—Large, elongated fruit, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy production, mid season
Betria—Large fruit size, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy production, mid season. We have a good supply of scion wood of this variety.
Canopus—New variety, very large fruit size, low seed, excellent flavor, very heavy production, late season
Gatria—Large fruit size, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy production, mid season
Halvin–Medium to large fruit, excellent flavor, early ripening, from SW Iowa, near the NW limit of the pawpaw’s native range.
PA Golden I and II—Med-large fruit, very heavy bearing, low seed, excellent flavor, early season
Prolific—Med-large fruit, heavy bearing, seedy, excellent flavor, mid-late season
fruit, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy bearing, early season
Regulus—Extremely heavy bearing, extremely large fruit, low seed, excellent flavor, mid season
Rigel—large fruit, heavy bearing, low seed, excellent flavor, mid season
RLG4–Medium sized fruit, excellent flavor, very early ripening, original tree from Northfield, MN.
SAA Overlease—Overlease seedling, large fruit, low seed, excellent flavor, heavy bearing, mid season.
Sundog–Seedling of a wild Iowa tree with small to medium fruit, excellent flavor, early ripening, and definitely self-fertile. This is one to plant if you only have room for one tree.
And many, many more...
with many more to come after that!!!
Thanks for helping to spread this blessing of a plant!