North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark Lee" <markl@nytec.com>]

I have a Diospyros lotus tree, date plum, a relative of persimmons that are
native to the US.  I accidently found that this tree is easily propagated
from root cuttings.

One year ago at the absolute worst time to transplant trees, I had to move
this tree due to construction that was about to take place.  We were having
a hot July and I was afraid this tree wouldn't survive the move.  I went out
one evening and ripped the tree out of the ground with a pick and shovel.  I
had to work fast because the bull dozer was coming the next morning to level
everything remaining.  This past week I noticed a few D. lotus branches
poking out of the piles of dirt left from the construction.  I dug them up
and found them attached to 1/2" thick 6 " long sections of the tree I dug up
a year ago.  I now have a small nursery bed of these trees.  What a tough
tree.  The tree I moved last year is also doing well.  In the 15 years I
have had this tree, I have never had fruit even though it blooms.  I need
both a male and female, which I obsiously don't have with a single tree.
Now I have a collection of rootstock I can experiment with (i.e. grafting)
and maybe someday get a male/female pair growing in my garden.  I know this
fruit can produce in Seattle because the local arboretum has a productive
tree that I sampled last fall.
-Mark Lee, Seattle, zone 7B/8A