Persimmon

Persimmon

Diospyros virginiana

Ebenaceae (Ebony Family)

▲ ▼ leaves and buds

▲ ▼ fruit

Location on campus: at east end of retention basin at southwest corner of National and Grand streets, near the large American Hollies

Diospyros virginica: Persimmon

• leaves are alternate, oval, 3-6 inches long and 1/2 as wide with smooth or sometimes slightly serrate margins and pointed tip; leaves are dark green on upper surface, lighter green below
• stems are slender, gray-brown to red-brown, hairless or slightly pubescent
• grows 35 to 60 feet tall and about 1/2 as wide
• trees are dioecious and flowers not showy
• fruit (only on female trees) is a 1-1.5 inch diameter, pink-orange, glaucous globe-shaped berry with orange, fruity, edible pulp; fruit often not edible until exposed to hard freeze; seeds have been said to predict winter conditions by the embryo shape/pattern inside the seed: spoon shaped = lots of snow to shovel; fork shape = mild winter with plenty to eat; knife shape = very cold winter (so cold you could cut it with a knife)
  • some wild and selected varieties do produce fruit that is edible before freezing, but most wild ones are not edible until after a freeze
• bark is nearly black, broken into rectangular-blocky ridges; wood is very hard
• grows in full sun to full shade sites (heavier fruit in brighter locations)
• prefers moist, well-drained, fertile soils, but will grow in drier, low-fertility soils, too;
• native to Missouri