Note from the Author: New wild plant!
Common Name: American Persimmon
Other Common Names: Common Persimmon, Date Plum, Jove’s Fruit, Possum Apples, Possumwood, Simmon, Winter Plum, Sugar Plum, Eastern Persimmon.
Botanical Family: Ebenaceae (The Ebony Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Diospyros virginiana
Prior Botanical Latin Names: Diospyros mosieri, Diospyros virginiana var. mosieri, Diospyros virginiana var. platycarpa, Diospyros virginiana var. pubescens.
Description & Habitat:
American Persimmon is a native deciduous tree in the ebony family that can grow up to eighty feet tall with a canopy that is up to thirty five feet wide. The scientific name of American Persimmon is interesting as the first part ‘Diospyros’ comes from the Greek words ‘dios’ and ‘pyros’. The two Greek words directly translate to ‘Zeus’s Wheat’ but generally mean ‘divine fruit’. The specific epithet ‘virginiana’ means ‘of virginia’ or in some sources ‘virginian’. The common name ‘persimmon’ comes from the language of the Native Americans, specifically the Algonquin name for the fruit ‘putchamin’ which was phonetically anglicized. In our Fort Liberty hike it was found that the specimens as seen were smaller than the above noted size by a long shot; mostly being fifteen feet tall at best. American Persimmons bear their leaves in an alternate arrangement and the leaves are roughly elliptical and have a pointed tip. The flowers are easy enough to tell apart, male flowers appear in clusters of 2-3 flowers and are smaller and have petals that tend to curl back. Female flowers appear individually and have less curled petals that are more pronounced. For comparison, on Japanese Persimmons, all the flowers are female and are parthenocarpic meaning they don’t need pollination to produce fruit. They also had a thin canopy indicating that they were effectively operating as under story trees perhaps due to the location or the age of the trees. At the time I did not check to see if these trees were male or female because American Persimmons are Dioecious, meaning they are either male or female with no hermaphroditic specimens known to be in the wild. It is not uncommon for a single American Persimmon trees to put out a number of shoots that become entirely new trees from its roots and thus forming colonies of single-gender trees. The problem with this is that if another tree of the opposite gender isn’t nearby, the trees you see will produce no fruit. In the field you will have to study the flower to determine which gender it is and plant the right match to ensure fruit. It is not uncommon for an American Persimmon to take upwards of nine years from seed to produce fruit. In our area you will find American Persimmons naturally in places like rich bottom lands such as the Mississippi river valley, at the margins of woodlands, in fields, rocky hillsides and if previously cultivated growing in former homesteads. On Fort Liberty we found the photographed specimens in Turkey Oak Scrub.
Special Toxicity Note:
While not toxic in the normal sense unripe Persimmon fruit are astringent until they have been hit with a frost. This can be quite unpleasant, but you can still eat them as long as they were frozen first, or for drying or baking.
When & What to Harvest:
When it comes to American Persimmons, the fruit is often 1-3 inches wide/long and is ripe when it is an orange-rose color after a few frosts. You would start looking for the ripe fruit in the fall or early winter.
Related Plants:
Japanese Persimmon (Diospyros kaki), Texas Persimmon (D. texana).
Recipe:
Here is a link to an excellent recipe with some great insights on how to make Persimmon Jam. https://practicalselfreliance.com/persimmon-jam/
Additional Information: (If applicable)
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/diospyros-virginiana/
Where to get Seed or Bare Root Plants:
https://onegreenworld.com/product-category/fruiting-trees-shrubs/persimmon/american-persimmon/
With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
Fresh Foods
Hybrid Lemon Drop Peppers
Figs, Magnolia
Herbs
Basil, Sweet Genovese
Oregano
Prickly Pear, Spineless
Sage, Common
Thyme, English
Summer Plants
Calibrachoa, Caliburst
Coneflower, Pow Wow White
Cotton, Nankeen
Dahlia, Figaro Mix
Madagascar Periwinkle, Tattoo Blueberry
Garden Supply
Live Mushroom Compost, 1 Gallon
Live Mushroom Compost, 3 Gallon
Plants Coming Soon:
False Indigo
Milkweed
Calendula
How to stay in Contact with Us!
All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.
Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville
Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:
The Videos: Look Here
>Newest videos (2): Perilla, Tricolor Perilla
With all of the updates, blog posts, community announcements and the main topic handled remember that Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’s meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is June 20th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm, or at North South Brewing on the same day between 1:00 and 5:00pm.
