I should mention that growing up in North Carolina my grandfather was always known as Pawpaw to me and my family. (Or should I say kin?) My other grandfather was Papa. Made it easy to keep track of who was who :)

I've never met anyone outside the American South who could pronounce it properly.

As soon as I heard the name "PawPawMail" I knew exactly what the product was for. Excellent naming.

These fruits actually taste really good too. As a native to Missouri, I have eaten these several times right off the tree while on hikes. They taste quite a bit like a banana and have huge seeds.

It is also North America's largest native tree fruit.

I agree with you that it tastes nice. However, either your bananas taste different or your pawpaws taste different - it doesn't taste like a banana at all!

Outside the U.S., the term "pawpaw" can sometimes refer to the papaya. How's that for confusing?

Also entertaining: its flowers smell like rotten meat.

see http://www.hort.cornell.edu/extension/commercial/fruit/mfrui...