» This page refers to the U.S. pawpaw in the genus Asimina. In some other parts of the world the name pawpaw's applied to the unrelated tropical fruit papaya (Carica papaya). Pawpaw (Asimina)'s a genus of small clustered trees with large leaves and fruit, native to North America. The genus includes the largest edible fruit indigenous to the continent. They're understory trees found in well drained deep fertile bottomland and hilly upland habitat. Pawpaw's in the same family (Annonaceae) as the… (More on Pawpaw)