Product Review

The American Persimmon is a slow to medium growing deciduous tree with a mature height to 60 feet, with branches spreading from 20 to 35 feet and a trunk two feet thick, but it is commonly much shorter in landscapes. The trunk typically ascends up through the crown in a curved but very dominant fashion, rarely producing double or multiple leaders. The bark on older trunks is grey or black and distinctly blocky with orange in the valleys between the blocks. The leaves are generally elliptic, 4 to 6 inches long, glossy dark green on top and pale green underneath. The fall color can be yellow to a spectacular red. The flowers are fragrant, white to greenish-yellow and inconspicuous, with each tree having only male (staminate) or female (pistillate) flowers, (dioecious). The male flowers appear in clusters and the female flowers are solitary. The female flowers develop into showy orange fruits, up to 2 inches in diameter that are very astringent during maturation, but deliciously sweet when fully ripe. Fruit may persist on the tree into winter. When you gently shake a Persimmon tree, the ripe fruits fall to the ground. If you have to pull the fruit off the tree, it will surely pucker your mouth inside out! Ripe Persimmons are delicious out of hand, and commonly used in syrups, jellies, ice creams, puddings, pies and cakes. Dried Persimmons are like dates and the leaves can be used to make teas. Persimmon wood is prized for its beauty and extreme density, and used for golf club heads and pool cues.