This small, shrubby tree is sandwiched between two diverging paths on the north side of Furman Hall.

Pawpaw is a distinctive tree in many ways.  It has unlobed leaves without teeth along the margin which are notable because of their large size and typical shape: widening toward the tip end.  The terminal buds are long and an unusual rusty brown color.  The bark is gray and unridged, but has a rough surface.

Pawpaw flowers appear in the early spring and are typical of "carrion" flowers that are pollinated by confused carrion flies: they smell bad and have a purple color.  Frequently they do not set fruit, apparently because they don't get enough pollen from other trees.  Fruit growers have found that they can reliably get fruit if they hang dead fish or road kill in their pawpaw patch to increase the number of pollinators. However, careful studies of pawpaw pollinators call into question whether the flowers actually attract specific pollinators. It may be that the swarms of flies incidentally pollinate the flowers when they land on the exposed stamens rather than being duped into thinking that the flowers are dead flesh.