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HerbNET - Magazine - Profile of Persimmon
brown, and prominently broken into square scaly areas. The flowers are greenish yellow to creamy
white. The fruit is 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter, yellow or orange, with flower sepals attached. It is
hardy to zone 4 and is frost tender. It is in flower in June, and the seeds ripen from October to
November. The flowers are dioecious and are pollinated by insects and wind. The plant not is
self-fertile.
Cultivation: Requires a good deep loamy soil in sun or light shade. If being grown for its
fruit, the tree requires a warm, sunny, sheltered position. It dislikes very acid or wet and
poorly drained soils. Plants are somewhat tender when young, though dormant mature
trees are hardy to about -3°F. The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is
frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early
morning sun. Dioecious, but the female tree can produce seedless fruits in the absence
of a pollinator. It is likely that unfertilized fruits are more astringent than fertilized fruits
since this is the case with D. kaki. Trees can start producing fruit when only a few years
old. Plants have a long tap root and are difficult to transplant, it is best to plant them out in
their permanent position as soon as possible and to give protection overwinter for the first
year or two.
Seed is best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe. Stored seed requires
cold-stratification and should be sown as early in the year as possible. It usually
germinates in 1 - 6 months at 47°F. Pot up the young seedlings as soon as they are large
enough to handle into fairly deep pots and plant them out in early summer. Give the plants
some protection from winter cold for their first winter or two outdoors. Cuttings of half-ripe
wood, July/August in a frame. Layering in spring. Harvest the green fruits in early fall; ripe
fruits after the first frost; roots as needed
History: The botanical name comes from Dios, Jove, and pyros, grain, alluding to the
edible fruits. Introduced into Europe in the early 18 th century, they have been important
food crops in southern France and in Italy since early in the 19 th century. The wild
American variety, so beloved of opossums, was first described by English naturalists in
1699. The Southeast American Indians employed the wild forms in many sweet dishes;
the larger cultivated Oriental form was introduced into the southern states about 1870 and
is usually grown in home gardens.
Properties: Antiscorbutic; Astringent; Warts.
Medicinal Uses: An infusion of the green fruit is used in treating diarrhea, dysentery, and uterine
hemorrhages and as a gargle for sore throat. A drink made of powdered seeds mixed with water
and strained through a cloth is used to treat kidney stones. Indians boiled the roots to make a
medicinal tea for dysentery. They also washed babies’ mouths with an infusion of the boiled bark,
as a remedy for sores on the mouth, lips and throat. The leaves are rich in vitamin C and are used
as an antiscorbutic. The bark was used externally as a wash for warts or cancers.
Other Uses: Wood - strong, hard, heavy, fine-grained, elastic, resistant to wear. A valuable wood,
it is used for making wooden ware, turnery etc. It is used especially for making handles for golf
clubs.
Culinary Uses: Fruit - raw, cooked or dried and used in breads, cakes, pies, puddings etc. About
the size of a plum, the fruit has an exquisitely rich flavor when it is fully ripe (and almost at the
point of going bad) but it is very harsh and astringent before then. The fruit may not ripen properly
in a cool summer, though if it is frosted it normally develops a very good flavor. The fruit can also
be harvested in the autumn, preferably after a frost, and bletted. (This is a process where the fruit is
kept in a cool place and only eaten when it is very soft and almost at the point of going rotten).
Much of the fruit on trees in a relatively sunny position at Kew after a relatively warm summer in
1996 was still not fully ripe, though it was very nearly so and ripened well off the tree. The fruit
can also be dried and used in bread, cakes etc. Molasses can be made from the fruit pulp. An oil
obtained from the seeds is said to taste like peanut oil. A tea is made from the dried leaves. It is
high in vitamin C and has a pleasant flavor somewhat like sassafras. The roasted seed is used as a
coffee substitute.
Recipes:
Fuyu Persimmon and Yams Baked with Sweet Cicely
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