Beautiful pawpaw

Asimina pulchella (Small) Rehder & Dayton

Leaves: petiole 2-4 mm. Leaf blade spreading-ascending, mostly elevated above shoots, oblong to oblong-ovate or spatulate, 4-7 cm, base cuneate to narrowly rounded, margins narrowly revolute, apex obtuse to broadly rounded, often notched. Inflorescences: peduncle slender, 1-3cm. Flowers nodding to ascending, white to pale pink, sweetly fragrant; sepals 2-4, erect, ovate-triangular, ca. 5 mm; petals 6-12(-15), ascending to apically recurved, linear or narrowly oblong, 2-3 cm × ca. 2 mm; pistils (1-)5(-7). Berries 4-7cm. Seeds 1-1.5 cm, slightly flattened laterally.

Flowering late winter-spring, all year on disturbance. Sandy peats of slash pine-palmetto flats, savannas; of conservation concern; 0-50 m; Fla.

Deeringothamnus pulchellus commonly associates with Asimina reticulata and overlaps with that species in flowering times; no hybrids between them have been observed. When protected from fire, the elongate and branching shoots of D . pulchellus and D . rugelii will persist, but such new growth rarely produces flowers. A conservation measure for such species must involve periodic burning.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Rehder, A.J. and W.A. Dayton. 1944. A new combination in Asimina. J.Arnold Arbor. 25: 84. Small, J.K. 1926. Deeringothamnus pulchellus. Addisonia 11: 33-34.