Diospyros virginiana - Common Persimmon Fact Sheet

Common Persimmon Fact Sheet

Family:  Ebenaceae - Ebony family
Latin name:  Diospyros virginiana
Common name:  Persimmon, Common persimmon, American persimmon

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon - Tree habit in winter

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon - Tree habit in summer

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon -younger trees bark is gray-brown with orange in the fissures. older trees, bark is brown to black and broken into rectangular checkered sections

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon leaves are elliptic, 2 1/2�5 1/2 inches long.

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon leaves, twigs, and sepals in summer.

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon fruit in summer

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon young plants surrounding the tree in early fall

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon fruit in late summer

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon fruit, sepal, and twigs in fall

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon twigs, buds and mature fruit in fall.

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon twigs and sepals in winter.

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon winter photo branches, twigs and buds

Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon stumps of 'twin trees'

Habit:
- Diospyros virginiana trees are normally 30 to 60 feet tall at maturity but in the best habitats they may reach a height of 70 to 80 feet and a diameter of 20 to 24 inches.
- Common persimmon usually forms an upright or drooping type tree with a rounded or conical crown.
- Stems of Common persimmon may be clumped, either because seedlings develop close to one another or because they grow from suckers after a tree has been cut down.
- American persimmons are dioecious; trees are generally either male or female.
Bark:
- in younger trees the bark is gray-brown with orange in the fissures.
- in older trees, bark is brown to black and broken into rectangular checkered sections.
Twigs and Buds:
- Twigs slender, light brown to gray
- twig scar is often very prominent
- leaf scar has one, oval vascular bundle trace
Buds
- no true terminal bud
- buds are dark red to black with 2 bud scales
- triangular in shape, appressed
Leaves:
- round to elliptic, 2 1/2—5 1/2 inches (6—14 cm) long.
- Foliage is glossy, dark green above, and paler beneath.
Flowers:
- Flowers are white and bloom in May or June
  Diospyros virginiana–Common Persimmon
Fruit:
- a persistent spherical berry 1.9 to 5.1 cm (0.8 to 2.0 in) in diameter.
- ripens from September to November or occasionally a little earlier.
- When mature it is yellow to orange or dark red in color, often with a glaucous bloom.
- Each berry usually contains one to eight flat, brown seeds about 13 mm (0.5 in) long but is sometimes seedless.
- Fruits fall from September to late winter.
- The fruit is astringent until it is ripe.
Seeds
- Seeds are dispersed by birds and animals and by overflow water in bottomlands. There are evidentaly many that don't get far from the tree (as is demonstrated in the photo where the ground around the tree is fill with 'volunteer' seedlings.
Wood:
- The wood is hard, heavy, and strong. The heartwood is brown to black; the sapwood is wide and white to yellow in color. It is used for golf club.

References:

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/diospyros/virginiana.htm

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