Diospyros virginiana

Not to be confused with Amelanchier canadensis, also called sugarplum
Diospyros virginiana
Botanical details of buds, flowers and fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ebenaceae
Genus: Diospyros
Species: D. virginiana
Binomial name
Diospyros virginiana
L.
Synonyms[1]

Diospyros mosieri S.F.Blake

Diospyros virginiana is a persimmon species commonly called the American Persimmon,[1] Common Persimmon,[2] Eastern Persimmon, "'Simmon", "Possumwood", or "Sugar-plum".[3] It ranges from southern Connecticut/Long Island to Florida, and west to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The tree grows wild but has been cultivated for its fruit and wood since prehistoric times by Native Americans.

Diospyros virginiana grows through 20 m (66 ft), in well-drained soil. In summer, this species produces fragrant flowers which are dioecious, so one must have both male and female plants to obtain fruit. Most cultivars are parthenocarpic (setting seedless fruit without pollination). The flowers are pollinated by insects and wind. Fruiting typically begins when the tree is about 6 years old.

The fruit is round or oval and usually orange-yellow and sometimes bluish and from 2 through 6 cm (0.79 through 2.4 in) in diameter. In the U.S. South and Midwest, the fruits are referred to as simply Persimmons or "'Simmons", and are popular in desserts and cuisine.

Commercial varieties include the very productive Early Golden, the productive John Rick, Miller, Woolbright and the Ennis, a seedless variety. Another nickname of the American Persimmon, 'Date-plum' also refers to a persimmon species found in South Asia, Diospyros lotus.

Description

American persimmon tree bearing fruit in the fall
Flower

It is a small tree usually 30 through 80 feet (10 through 24 meters) in height, with a short, slender trunk and spreading, often pendulous branches, which form a broad or narrow, round-topped canopy. The roots are thick, fleshy and stoloniferous. This species as has a shrubby growth form.[4] This plant has oval entire leaves, and unisexual flowers on short stalks. In the male flowers, which are numerous, the stamens are sixteen in number and arranged in pairs; the female flowers are solitary, with traces of stamens, and a smooth ovary with one ovule in each of the eight cells—the ovary is surmounted by four styles, which are hairy at the base. The fruit-stalk is very short, bearing a subglobose fruit an inch in diameter or a bit larger, of an orange-yellow color, ranging to bluish, and with a sweetish astringent pulp. It is surrounded at the base by the persistent calyx-lobes, which increase in size as the fruit ripens. The astringency renders the fruit somewhat unpalatable, but after it has been subjected to the action of frost, or has become partially rotted or "bletted" like a medlar, its flavor is improved.[5]

Distribution map of the American persimmon

Distribution

The tree is very common in the South Atlantic and Gulf states, and attains its largest size in the basin of the Mississippi River.[5] Its habitat is southern, it appears along the coast from New York to Florida; west of the Alleghenies it is found in southern Ohio and along through southeastern Iowa and southern Missouri; when it reaches Louisiana, eastern Kansas and Oklahoma it becomes a mighty tree, one hundred fifteen feet high.[4]

Its fossil remains have been found in Miocene rocks of Greenland and Alaska and in Cretaceous formations in Nebraska.[4]

D. virginiana is believed to be an evolutionary remnant of the megafauna that roamed the North American continent until 10,000 years ago and would have eaten the fruit, assisting in its dispersal. However, as it is attractive to raccoons, rodents, and smaller animals, the loss of large grazing herbivores and omnivores in historical times has not seriously affected the tree's survival strategy as compared to Kentucky Coffeetree and Osage Orange which are inedible to most extant wildlife and saw their ranges greatly diminish without mastodons and other dispersal agent fauna.

Uses

The peculiar characteristics of its fruit have made the tree well known. This fruit is a globular berry, with variation in the number of seeds, sometimes with eight and sometimes without any. It bears at its apex the remnants of the styles and sits in the enlarged and persistent calyx. It ripens in late autumn, is pale orange with a red cheek, often covered with a slight glaucous bloom. One joke among Southerners is to induce strangers to taste unripe persimmon fruit, as its very astringent bitterness is shocking to those unfamiliar with it. Folklore states that frost is required to make it edible, but fully ripened fruit lightly shaken from the tree or found on the ground below the tree is sweet, juicy and delicious. The peculiar astringency of the fruit is due to the presence of a tannin similar to that of Cinchona. The seeds were used as buttons during the American Civil War.[6]

The fruit is high in vitamin C. The unripe fruit is extremely astringent. The ripe fruit may be eaten raw, cooked or dried. Molasses can be made from the fruit pulp. A tea can be made from the leaves and the roasted seed is used as a coffee substitute. Other popular uses include desserts such as persimmon pie, persimmon pudding, or persimmon candy.

The fruit is also fermented with hops, cornmeal or wheat bran into a sort of beer or made into brandy. The wood is heavy, strong and very close-grained and used in woodturning.[5]

Cultivation

The tree prefers light, sandy, well-drained soil, but will grow in rich, southern, bottom lands. It can be grown in northern Ohio only with the greatest of care, and in southern Ohio its fruit is never edible until after frost.[4]

The tree is greatly inclined to vary in the character and quality of its fruit, in size this varies from that of a small cherry to a small apple. Some trees in the south produce fruit that is delicious without the action of the frost, while adjoining trees produce fruit that never becomes edible.[4]

It was brought to England before 1629 and is cultivated, but rarely if ever ripens its fruit. It is easily raised from seed and can also be propagated from stolons, which are often produced in great quantity. The tree is hardy in the south of England and in the Channel Islands.[5]

In respect to the power of making heartwood, the persimmon rarely develops any heartwood until it is nearly one hundred years old. This heartwood is extremely close-grained and almost black, resembling ebony (of which it is a true variety).[4][7]

It is a common misconception persimmon fruit needs frost to ripen and soften. Some, such as the early-ripening varieties "pieper" and "NC21"(also known as "supersweet"), easily lose astringency and become completely free of it when slightly soft at the touch—these are then very sweet, even in the British climate. On the other hand, some varieties (like the very large fruited "yates", which is a late ripening variety) remain astringent even when the fruit has become completely soft (at least in the British climate). Frost, however, destroys the cells within the fruit, causing it to rot instead of ripen. Only completely ripe and soft fruit can stand some frost; it will then dry and become even sweeter (hence the misconception). The same goes for the oriental persimmon (Diospyros kaki), where early frost can severely damage a fruit crop.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 USDA GRIN taxonomy
  2. USDA PLANTS database
  3. Phillips, Jan (1979). Wild Edibles of Missouri. Jefferson City, Missouri: Missouri Department of Conservation. p. 40.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Keeler, Harriet L. (1900). Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them. New York: Charles Scriber's Sons. pp. 195–199.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Persimmon". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  6. Dodge, David (1886). "Domestic Economy in the Confederacy". The Atlantic Monthly 58 (August): 229–241.
  7. The ebony of commerce is derived from five different tropical species of the genus, two from India and one each from Africa, Malaya and Mauritius. The beautiful variegated coromandel wood is the product of a species found in Ceylon.

External links

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