PAW PAW, Mich. (WOOD) — Heading south on M-40, you’ll pass a sign welcoming you to the village of Paw Paw. It features a regal cluster of grapes.

It makes sense, considering Paw Paw is one of the hotspots for Michigan’s wine industry, but the village’s name comes from a different fruit — one that is tough to track down, but is a diamond in the rough for many foragers.

Sometimes they are referred to as a prairie banana, or even a Kentucky banana or a Michigan banana. They are most commonly known as the pawpaw.

But what is a pawpaw? And why don’t we see them in grocery stores?

WHAT IS A PAWPAW?

Pawpaw trees are native to Michigan and are the largest tree fruit native to the U.S. They grow across most of the eastern United States, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic coa

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