Asimina incana (W.Bartram) Exell — Woolly pawpaw

Introduction

Woolly pawpaw (Asimina incana) is a deciduous shrub of dry pinelands, sandhills, flatwoods, and related sandy habitats in Georgia and northern Florida. Tree TSAR places it in the Parviflora Clade. Its most useful field character is the dense pale or tan woolly covering on young leaves, which distinguishes it from the orange-haired young foliage of A. reticulata and the bright red pubescence of A. obovata. Its flowers are comparatively large and pale, usually white to yellow-white. (Kral, 1960; Flora of North America, 1997).

The species hybridizes readily. A. incana is one parent of the named hybrids A. × kralii with A. pygmaea and A. × nashii with A. angustifolia.

Horticultural and Agricultural Uses

Woolly pawpaw has modest but genuine value in native-plant horticulture as a showy flowering shrub. The Florida Native Plant Society recommends it as a specimen shrub for full sun to part sun on sandy, acidic to neutral soils. Like several southern pawpaws, it develops a substantial taproot and can be difficult to establish after root disturbance; plants are therefore better started from seed or carefully handled nursery stock than moved from established wild plants. Its fruits are edible, but the species is not an agricultural crop. (Florida Native Plant Society, 2026).

Conservation Concerns

Woolly pawpaw is not federally listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Its range is nevertheless much narrower than that of A. triloba or A. parviflora, and much of its habitat consists of fire-influenced southeastern pinelands. Conservation value is therefore tied to retention and appropriate management of those open sandy communities. Current global taxonomic sources continue to recognize the species as native only to Georgia and Florida. (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2026).

Additional Information

Plants of the World Online: Plants of the World Online (opens in a new tab) - Accepted taxon, distribution, and synonymy.
Florida Native Plant Society: Florida Native Plant Society (opens in a new tab) - Regional ecology and horticultural guidance.
Flora of North America: Flora of North America (opens in a new tab) - Genus key and morphological treatment.

References and Further Reading

Kral, R. 1960. A revision of Asimina and Deeringothamnus (Annonaceae). Brittonia 12: 233-278. DOI: 10.2307/2805119 (opens in a new tab).

Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 1997. Asimina. Flora of North America North of Mexico, vol. 3. Link (opens in a new tab)

Florida Native Plant Society. 2026. Asimina incana plant account. Link (opens in a new tab)

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2026. Asimina incana. Plants of the World Online. Link (opens in a new tab)