Pawpaws are the largest edible fruit indigenous to the U.S. Fruits are sweet, with a custard-like texture, and a flavor somewhat similar to banana, mango, and pineapple. They are commonly eaten raw.

Pawpaw flowers are perfect, meaning they contain both male and female components on the same flower. Flowers measure are a rich red-purple or maroon when mature, with three sepals and six petals. They are borne singly on stout, hairy, axillary peduncles. The flowers are produced in early spring at the same time as or slightly before the new leaves appear, and have a faint fetid or yeasty smell.