Asterion Pawpaw
Asterion: A Late-Ripening Bright Star
A newer release by Tom Wahl, Asterion is known for its excellent fruit quality, delicious flavor, extremely high production and resistance to frost, highlighting pawpaw’s increasingly important adaptability.
Price range: $54.99 through $114.99
Asterion: A Late-Ripening Bright Star
Developed by Tom Wahl of Red Fern Farm in Wapello, IA, “Asterion” is quickly making a name for itself as a newer and highly sought-after cultivar. A cross between Neal Peterson’s Shenandoah and Susquehanna, it is boasts large fruit size, low seed-count, excellent flavor and high production.
Flavor is described as sweetly refined with banana, mango, citrus and melon tones predominating. Fruits are large (up to 1.5 pounds a piece) and have very few seeds (less than 10% of fruit weight) meaning that almost all that weight is the delicious, creamy, orange-yellow pulp.
Like many pawpaws, Asterion has a very pleasing aroma that increases as fruit ripens. The tree is highly productive with reports stating it can produce hundreds of fruits on mature trees when properly pollinated.
Fruits ripen later in the season (mid September- mid October) and it is said that the tree handles frost particularly well, showing good adaptability.
Key Features of Asterion Pawpaw:
- Developed by Tom Wahl of Red Fern Farm
- Cross between ‘Shenandoah’ and ‘Susquehanna’
- Large fruit size (up to 1.5 pounds/fruit)
- Low seed count
- High production (100+ fruits per tree)
- Orange-yellow pulp
- Creamy texture
- Flavor is refined with tones of banana, mango, citrus and melon
- Handles frost well
- Late ripening
- NOT recommended for Northern growers
USDA Zones: 5-8
Spacing: 8-10 foot centers (Requires closer spacing for better pollination.)
Pollination Requirements: Pawpaws require more than 1 cultivar for cross-pollination (This means you need at least two trees with different names. We recommend planting 3 to ensure excellent pollination.)
Grown & Shipped In: 4x4x9 tree pots with advanced root systems
Shipping Season: Spring (dormant) & Autumn (not dormant) – Subject to tree availability
Beautiful Beginnings Pawpaws have highly-developed and extensive root systems that set your tree up for success from the very beginning by helping it to anchor well and grow vigorously with proper care. Trees are also grown and shipped in a way to help them handle transplant stress better and to be able to uptake nutrients more effectively.
