North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 12:58 PM 9/3/2003 -0500, you wrote:
> I read
> somewhere that the leaves of persimmon trees with large fruit are large
> also.I have noticed that the leaves of the
> cultivars I have grafted are markedly larger
> than the seedlings to which they are grafted,however, I have some
> seedlings as yet ungrafted with large leaves. Would they be good
> prospects to be left ungrafted?

Keith,
I've noticed the same thing with my grafted selections, but don't have an answer, as I've not grown any persimmon seedlings out to bearing age.
John Gordon has made the comment that if he had it to do over again, at least with pawpaws, that he'd select large-leafed seedlings of named varieties and outplant them, rather than having to nurse grafted selections along in remote areas - but you don't have the male/female situation to deal with in pawpaws that must be a consideration with persimmons. 
It'd be a real bummer to devote 7-10 years or so to growing out a large-leafed persimmon seedling, only to find that it's a non-fruiting male.

Lucky Pittman
USDA Zone 6
Hopkinsville, KY