American persimmon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Botanical details of buds, flowers and fruit
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Diospyros virginiana L. |
Diospyros virginiana, the American persimmon, is a tree native to the Eastern United States. Its ranges from New England to Florida, and west to Texas and Kansas. The tree grows wild but has been cultivated for its fruit and wood since prehistoric times by Native Americans.
D. virginiana grows to 20 meters (65.62 feet), in well-drained soil. The tree produces fragrant flowers in summer, the flowers are dioecious so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required. The flowers are pollinated by insects and wind. Fruiting typically begins when the tree is about six years old.
The fruit of the American persimmon is round or oval. The fruit color is usually orange, ranging to black. In the American South and Midwest, the fruits of the American Persimmon are referred to as simply persimmons or "pawdads", and are moderately popular in desserts and cuisine (see below). Fruit size is varies from 2 - 6 centimeters (0.79 - 2.36 inches).
Commercial varieties include the very productive Early Golden, the productive John Rick, Woolbright, and Miller and the Ennis–seedless variety.
[edit] Uses
The fruit is high in vitamin C. The unripe fruit is extremely astringent. The ripe fruit may be eaten raw, cooked or dried. Molasses can be made from the fruit pulp. A tea can be made from the leaves and the roasted seed is used as a coffee substitute. Other popular uses include desserts such as persimmon pie, or persimmon pudding.
