PlantFiles: American Persimmon, Common Persimmon, Eastern Persimmon, Date Plum
Diospyros virginiana

I have questions that I hope someone can answer for me about the American persimmon. I live in Northern New Mexico at an elevation of 7250 ft. I have lived in my house for 25 years and there has always been a bush underneath my bathroom window that had white flowers in the spring, but that's all. This spring after the snow was gone, but before the plant leafed out or bloomed I noticed fruit on the plant - old dried fruit from last year apparently. A LOT of fruit. In 25 years this plant has never had fruit before. I was astonished. Apparently I did not notice said fruit amongst the leaves last spring or summer. None of the neighbors knew what it was and so I took some of it to our county extension agent and he said he believed it to be persimmon. Well I pooh poohed that becuase the web says persimmons grow on trees. This plant has never gotten more than knee high. It spreads out, but does not grow up and is definitely not a tree. The agent said to bring him a cutting when it came out this spring. Well I just noticed after a spate of warm weather yesterday that the plant now has leaves and blooms so I cut some and took up to the county extension agent again. He was not in, but left me a phone message this morning that we was over 99% sure it was American persimmon. Back to the web I went. This site(Dave's Garden) says 30-40 ft trees with red-orange, gold or bright yellow blooms. My BUSH (NOT tree!) has white blooms that are very very similar to apple blossoms. We again have over 5 inches of snow on the ground today or I would upload a picture. Can anyone tell me if the American persimmon could actually grow on a low bush that has white blooms or should I tell our county extension agent he is insane? Thank you for any information.

The persimmon psyllid (a tiny bug) attacks this tree, causing new leaves to be crinkly and stunted. It's really only a problem for seedlings, which have a bigger percentage of new leaves, so seedlings can benefit from regular spraying. Spray before you see damage, because after you see the damage, it's too late. The bugs are in their little crinkly hideouts, and the spray won't touch them.

One of my 4 persimmon trees has a chlorosis problem, though it stays green if I feed it extra iron. I'm not sure why it has a problem, as the sources all say these trees do well in alkaline soil. My other 3 trees don't have the problem.

I love Persimmons! I have 3 in my yard and I collect the fruit to use in baking. It is a little work getting the pulp from the seeds, but worth it to me.

I live in southeast Texas where the Common Persimmon is native. I try my best to only use native plants and trees on my property for a number of reasons. The persimmon fruit is eaten by a number of bird and mammal species. Also, I consider the attraction of webworms as a positive attribute since many more bird species such as warblers, vireos, cuckoos and many others use these as a food source as well. Futhermore, to the best of my knowledge, all bird species feed insects to their young of which webworms play a major role. Since the worms seem to do no permanent damage to the tree I find this a very acceptable symbiotic relationship. The benefits to wildlife far outweigh any negatives with the Common Persimmon.

Okay, why do I give D. virginiana a negative vote? I live in north Florida on 36 acres of former farmland, and a good patch of it is covered with persimmon suckers, with scattered trees elsewhere.. There are a few ragged-looking trees over twenty feet tall that might be parents to the suckers; only an isolated one well away from those bears fruit so far as I've seen, so maybe all the others are males: the tree is dioecious. The suckers return with a vengeance when mown down, and the bulk of the roots underneath them seems to be so great that spraying Roundup on every visible persimmon leaf in an area is far from a sure kill. (2,4-D is said to be effective too, and if it's cheaper I'll certainly give it a try as well.) In the spring the glossy leaves are attractive, but within weeks every leaf is spotty -- some sort of disease? If so, it's far from fatal, but it's unsightly and can cause early leaf fall, leaving both the biggish trees and the suckers looking ragged. Perhaps it has something to do with the trees being in full sun.

Some people here love the ripe fruit. I haven't tried it: it's better after a frost, they say, but at least needs to be soft or it will be astringent. If more of my trees bore any fruit at all, and if they didn't sucker so aggressively, I might be a big fan of this tree. I have worked the wood and it's wonderful, being essentially a temperate zone ebony, though almost all of the wood is pale sapwood: it takes a very big tree to yield any of the black heartwood at all, and I suspect that no tree on my land will ever be big enough. In fact, I have seen foot-wide boards with tantalizing jet-black bits around the knots but mundane looking sapwood elsewhere. Very hard, heavy, strong wood that takes a good finish, mind.

This tree is native to Virginia as well & is a lovely - if large - addition to a home orchard or native planting. Wildlife - especially Red & Grey Fox around here - absolutely love the fruit, & we know it's starting to ripen when we find fox scat chockful of the large brown pits.

The small fruits are delicious eaten right off the tree, or in baked dishes, but as others have stated, they must be completely ripe. Here that doesn't usually occur until after frost. The puckering astringent taste of the unripe fruit is an experience not soon forgotten.

My only complaint about this tree is that it plays host to large infestations of Fall Webworm, which, while not harmful to the tree's health, are rather unsightly.

I HAVE A FEMALE TREE GROWN FROM SEED IN EUGENE, OREGON..I'M LOOKING FOR MALE CUTTING OR POLLEN...LAST YEAR IT HAD IMMATURE FRUIT.

Native to virtually the entire state of Florida and is a Florida fall/winter color tree. Interesting bark has a block pattern.

A great tree for shade in the summer. The fruits get messy in the Fall, so it is not suitable for planting in heavy traffic areas. Grows wild in West KY.

Persimmon is a deciduous, Missouri native tree with a rounded, oval crown growing 35-60' tall and typically occurring in rocky or dry open woods, limestone glades, prairies, thickets, abandoned fields, and along roadsides. Ovate to elliptic leaves (2-6" long) are glossy dark green above, and turn yellowish green (infrequently reddish purple) in autumn. Species is usually dioecious (separate male and female trees), but some trees have perfect flowers. White to greenish yellow flowers appear in late spring, with the male flowers appearing in clusters and the female flowers appearing solitary. Edible persimmon fruits (1-2" in diameter) mature in fall to an orange to reddish purple color, and may persist on the tree into winter. One of the easiest deciduous trees to recognize in winter because of the distinctive, thick, dark gray bark which is broken into rectangular blocks. Persimmon fruit is quite astringent when green, but upon ripening becomes sweet and may be eaten off the tree.

This is a native American tree. It has lustrous green leaves, attractive rough brown bark, and beautiful yellow to orange golf-ball size fruit that remains on the trees after the leaves fall. The drooping branches give this tree a graceful appearance. Trees grow 30-45 feet tall.

Pick fruit while firm, yet fully colored, allow to finnish ripening indoors. Enjoy the smooth-textured, sweet fruit (after it's fully ripened) in persimmon pudding!

Plant bare-root in the spring, in full sun. (It is difficult to transplant because of tap-root.) Space 15-20 foot apart. Tolerant of moderate to well drained soils.

Its cousin, the Japanese Persimmon is hardy in USDA zones 7-10 and doesn't grow quiet as tall.