AN UNUSUAL PERSIMMON TREE 





The persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is known to most Americans as a small tree often 

 only a shrub; and most authorities on forestry state that it reaches a maximum height 

 of 50 feet and diameter of 1 foot. Michaux remarks, "The persimmon varies surprisingly 

 in size in different soils and climates. In the vicinity of New York it is not more than 

 half as large as in the more Southern States, where, in favorable situations, it is sometimes 

 60 feet in height and 18 or 20 inches in diameter." But here is a specimen near Luxora 

 Ark which is 7 feet in circumference, and is estimated to be 130 feet high. The absence 

 of limbs on most of the trunk is probably due to the fact that the tree was crowded and 

 was obliged to go high in order to get sunlight. It is standmg m a field of cotton and was 

 photographed on October 6, 1914, by S. E. Simonson of Luxora. (l^ig. l/.j 



