FNPS Plant Database

Asimina incana

polecat bush, flag pawpaw, woolly pawpaw

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Nomenclature

Common Name:

polecat bush, flag pawpaw, woolly pawpaw

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Asimina incana

Family:

Annonaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

shrub

Size:

4-6 ft tall by 3-5 ft wide

Life Span:

long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

white

Fruit Color:

green

Phenology:

deciduous

Noted For:

Showy Flowers

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Specimen shrub

Considerations:

May be difficult to establish because of its long tap root.

Availability:

Seed

Propagation:

Usually grown from nursery stock. Difficult to transplant, minimize root disturbance and keep moist until established. Can be grown from seed.

Light:

Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

-|----|----|----|----|----|----|---- <--------------------> --|-

Not wet but not extremely dry ---to--- Very long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

acidic to neutral

Suitable to Grow In:

8B, 9A

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Birds, Mammals
Small mammals and birds harvest the fruit.
Butterflies, Caterpillars, Moths

The flowers produce an odor similar to rotting meat to attract blowflies or carrion beetles for cross pollination. Larval host for zebra swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) and pawpaw sphinx (Dolba hyloeus).

Native Habitats:

sandhills, flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

Edible fruits

General Comments:

Citations:

Minno, Marc and Maria Minno. 1999. Florida Butterfly Gardening: A Complete Guide to Attracting, Identifying, and Enjoying Butterflies. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.


Tras, Pamela. 2001. Gardening for Florida's Butterflies. Great Outdoors Publishing, St. Petersburg, FL.


Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants. https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ , accessed 2025. Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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