Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In a few of the paw paw groups I am in, I have seen a lot of people asking if trees in the pictures are paw paw trees (usually small or young trees without a lot of details needed and pictures close enough to positively identify). A lot of times, people chime in and say yes. Probably 1/2 of the time they are wrong from what I can see. There is a common tree, hickory, that can very easily get mistaken for paw paw from an inexperienced person trying to find them. Young hickory trees have the leaf shape and the leaf color and would be too young to have paw paw fruit. In this video I try to show you the differences that set them apart.
One thing I left out that I meant to mention is that paw paw leaves alternate up the tree limb while hickory leaves are side by side up the tree limb. Paw paw leaves in full grown trees are also several inches wider and longer (depending on variety) than hickory but in younger trees that point is pretty moot as both hickory and paw paw could have the same size leaves if they are both younger trees.
Note: although I said pignut hickory numerous times in the video (because that's what the leaf is from ... but could also be bitternut), there are multiple other species of hickory that resemble paw paw leaves so it could be from any of those "hickory" species.
In a few of the paw paw groups I am in, I have seen a lot of people asking if trees in the pictures are paw paw trees (usually small or young trees without a lot of details needed and pictures close enough to positively identify). A lot of times, people chime in and say yes. Probably 1/2 of the time they are wrong from what I can see. There is a common tree, hickory, that can very easily get mistaken for paw paw from an inexperienced person trying to find them. Young hickory trees have the leaf shape and the leaf color and would be too young to have paw paw fruit. In this video I try to show you the differences that set them apart.
One thing I left out that I meant to mention is that paw paw leaves alternate up the tree limb while hickory leaves are side by side up the tree limb. Paw paw leaves in full grown trees are also several inches wider and longer (depending on variety) than hickory but in younger trees that point is pretty moot as both hickory and paw paw could have the same size leaves if they are both younger trees.
Note: although I said pignut hickory numerous times in the video (because that's what the leaf is from ... but could also be bitternut), there are multiple other species of hickory that resemble paw paw leaves so it could be from any of those "hickory" species.
