North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Jwlehman@aol.com]

The question was asked: What do male and female flowers
look like? 

Answer: No they do not look alike.




Diospyros virginiana (American persimmon) female (pistillate) flower.



Male (staminate) flowers.

The pistillate flowers hang singular while the staminate flowers are three (usually) per pedicel. The flowers bloom in sequence which makes for a longer flowering period for males than the female trees.  First the center (sometimes called the king flower) flower blooms then drops from the pedicel then one of the sides which then drops followed by the third one. My experience is the males start blooming about 5 days before females and continue about 5 days past the receptive period for the pistillate flowers. Thus assuring pollen for all pistillate flowers. Isn't nature wonderful?

These pictures were taken by myself and are freely distributed or public domain. If anyone needs then as JPG files let me know and I'll send as attachments.

Jerry