North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lon Rombough <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Looks like Diospyros lotus, which is the most common rootstock for Asian persimmons in California and other relatively warm climate areas.  The average seedling is edible, but not great.  I've heard that there are selections in Asia that are used for fruit, though.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com  Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
On Nov 14, 2004, at 2:41 PM, Diane Whitehead wrote:

I have been growing a Japanese persimmon for about 25 years.  It arrived from a California nursery (probably Monrovia) with ripe fruit already on it.  It has never fruited since.  It is about 2.5 m high (ceiling height) and the leaves are still green.  I haven't noticed when they fall.  The plant has never suffered frost damage, though we have had two or three cold winters in the time it's been growing here.  I assume it never fruits because of lack of summer heat here on the coast.

The rootstock has grown itself a tree which is more than twice as high as the Japanese one.  It regularly has a big crop of grape-sized fruit.  I just ate a few, and the flesh tastes like a Japanese one, but after a few minutes the skin leaves an astringent taste.  There are tiny brown seeds, so small they can't be felt when being eaten.  The leaves fell a few weeks ago.

I suppose this is a D. virginiana, but it certainly isn't large fruited like the one Jerry Lehman grows.

Diane Whitehead  Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8
cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually)
sandy soil


<DSCN1537.jpg>
persimmons.JPG



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