How to ID and Manage Persimmon

A small to medium tree, Common Persimmon is an interesting, somewhat irregularly shaped native tree. Bark is grey or black and distinctly blocky with orange in the valleys between the blocks. It presents a problem with fruit litter and attracts insects and animals. It can attain a mature height of 60 feet, with branches spreading from 20 to 35 feet with a trunk two feet thick. Lateral branches are typically much smaller in diameter than the trunk.

Scientific name: Diospyros virginiana
Pronunciation: dye-OSS-pih-ross ver-jin-nee-AY-nuh
Common name(s): Common Persimmon
Family: Ebenaceae
USDA hardiness zones: 4B through 9
Origin: native to North America
Availability: somewhat available, may have to go out of the region to find the tree

Bonsai; fruit tree; recommended for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings in the highway; reclamation plant; specimen; tree has been successfully grown in urban areas where air pollution, poor drainage, compacted soil, and/or drought are common

Height: 40 to 60 feet
Spread: 20 to 35 feet
Crown uniformity: irregular outline or silhouette
Crown shape: oval; pyramidal
Crown density: moderate

Leaf arrangement: alternate
Leaf type: simple
Leaf margin: smooth
Leaf shape: elliptic; ovate
Leaf venation: pinnate
Leaf type and persistence: deciduous
Leaf blade length: 4 to 8 inches; 2 to 4 inches
Leaf color: green
Fall color: red; yellow
Fall characteristic: showy

Trunk/bark/branches: droop as the tree grows, and will require pruning for vehicular or pedestrian clearance beneath the canopy; showy trunk; should be grown with a single leader; no thorns
Pruning requirement: needs little pruning to develop a strong structure
Breakage: resistant
Current year twig color: brown; gray; reddish
Current year twig thickness: thin
Wood specific gravity: 0.79

Fruit shape: round
Fruit length: 1 to 3 inches
Fruit covering: fleshy
Fruit color: orange
Fruit characteristics: attracts squirrels and other mammals; suited for human consumption; fruit, twigs, or foliage cause significant litter; persistent on the tree; showy

Light requirement: tree grows in full sun
Soil tolerances: clay; loam; sand; acidic; alkaline; extended flooding; well-drained
Drought tolerance: high
Aerosol salt tolerance: high
Soil salt tolerance: moderate

Common Persimmon prefers moist, well-drained, bottomland or sandy soils but is also very drought and urban-tolerant. Truly an amazing tree in its adaptability to about any site conditions, including alkaline soil. It is seen colonizing old fields as a volunteer tree but grows slowly on dry sites. Its fruit is an edible berry that usually ripens after frost, although some cultivars do not require the frost treatment to ripen. Before ripening, however, the fruit is decidedly astringent and not edible. Most American cultivars require both male and female trees for proper fruiting.
Except for cleaning up the messy fruit if it falls on a patio or sidewalk, Common Persimmon maintenance is quite easy and it could be planted more. Locate it where the slimy fruit will not fall on sidewalks and cause people to slip and fall. Because transplantation is difficult due to a coarsely-branched root system, Persimmon trees should be balled in burlap when young or planted from containers. The wood is used for golf club heads and is very hard and almost black. The variety "pubescens" has fuzzy leaves and twigs.