Is a Pawpaw Plant the Same as a Hedge Apple Plant?

Hedge apple, also called bow wood, is a favored wood for archery bows.


A walker in autumnal forests or tree-lined fields is likely to chance upon fallen fruit, and few native tree fruits attract such attention as that of the hedge apple. Greenish-yellow, warty and the size of an overgrown softball, hedge apples are the inedible fruit of the Osage orange tree (Maclura pomifera), a hardwood species endemic to Texas and Oklahoma but now dispersed throughout the country. A separate species, the pawpaw (Asimina triloba) also produces a yellowish-green fruit in the fall, but its other common name of custard apple gives a clue to the palatability of this native tree fruit.

A Tale of Two Fruits

Hedge apples and pawpaws both ripen in the fall, but each species is so distinct in both growth habit and fruit form that they would be difficult to mistake for one another. The large fruits of the Osage orange grow abundantly and cover the ground with copious numbers of fruit when they begin to drop from the trees in the fall. These fruits typically rot where they fall, since animals do not eat them. On the other hand, pawpaw fruits are secretive and difficult to find where they cluster beneath the large, umbrella-like foliage of the tree, as they are a light yellowish-green when dead ripe. These fruits are rarely found on the ground, since they're snapped up quickly by foraging animals that relish the fruits for their flavor and high fat content.

Osage Orange, or Hedge Apple

Brought to other parts of the country by settlers who used this thorny species as a livestock barrier, the Osage orange now ranges far beyond the edges of its original borders and can grow anywhere from U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 9. Valued for its exceptionally hard wood, this species can grow 40 feet tall and wide, although it has an unkempt, asymmetrical appearance when mature. The “orange” in its other common name is derived from the hue of both twig and bark, as well as the bright orange color of hewn wood.

Pawpaw, a Native Tropical

Probably dubbed “pawpaw” by Spanish explorers who drew on the fruits’ similarity in appearance and flavor to unrelated papayas, this tree species is the only North American representative of a genus that includes other valuable tropical fruits. The “custard apple,” as it is also sometimes called, produces egg-shaped fruits with a banana-like flavor and texture when ripe. Though it occurs most abundantly in the forests of the eastern U.S., pawpaws grow well anywhere in USDA zones 5 through 8. In the wild, pawpaws typically grow to 20 feet with sparse branches and foliage, but when planted in full sun as a single specimen, trees are shorter and with thicker foliage.

Habitat Differences

Pawpaws are most often found growing in the understory of mixed hardwood forests, where they spread slowly by seed and root suckers to form large colonies, especially along the boundaries of open spaces. Especially when young, pawpaws prefer shady growing conditions and can tolerate virtually any soil texture from clay to sand, making them an excellent candidate for erosion control programs. They prefer consistently moist soils but are reasonably drought tolerant once established. Osage orange, on the other hand, is most frequently found growing in the open along field edges in full sun. This species is exceptionally drought tolerant at all stages of life, but can also withstand extended periods of flooding in any type of soil.

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