Fruit: Black, spherical berries up to ⅛ inch in diameter, containing 2-5 seeds.
Wood: Light in weight, soft, brittle, close-grained, pale brown.
Use: Hercules’ Club is sometimes grown as an ornamental.
Habitat: Rich woods.
Range: New Jersey across to Iowa, south to Texas, east to Florida.
Distinguishing Features: The clusters of flowers and the leaves each may be as much as 4 feet long. The short, sharp prickles of the twigs are distinctive.
PAWPAW
Asimina triloba Dunal.
Growth Form: Small tree rarely up to 40 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 10 inches; crown broad and spreading; trunk straight, slender; thickets develop by means of root suckers.
Bark: Dark brown, thin, smooth at first, becoming shallowly fissured with age.