VIRGINIAN DATE PLUM. 3gQ 
Varieties. The varieties recognized under this species are as follows : 
1. D. v. pubescens. Pubescent-leaved Virginian Date Plum-tree : Diospyros 
pubescefis, of Pursh, Don, and others. The chief distinction between this variety 
and the Diospyros virginiana is, in its fruit having fewer seeds, and the downiness 
of its leaves on their under sides, which are also slightly different in their shape. 
Michaux makes this only a variety of this species, occasioned by different of 
climate ; which, he observes, exerts an extraordinary influence on the develop- 
ment of all trees that are common to different parts of the United States. 
2. D. v. dulcis, Prince. Sweet-fruited Virginian Date Plum-tree, character- 
ized in having sweeter fruit than that of the species. 
Geography and History. The Diospyros virginiana is found wild in the 
United States from the forty-second degree of north latitude to Texas. It is 
quite common in New Jersey, still more so in the middle and southern states, and 
abounds also in the west. When it was introduced into Britain is uncertain ; 
but it has been in cultivation, in England, though not very common, ever since 
the time of Parkinson. 
The largest tree of this species in Britain, is in the arboretum at Kew, which 
exceeds forty feet in height. 
In France, Germany, and Italy, there are specimens of about the same height 
as at Kew. 
The largest recorded tree of this kind on the globe, is in the Bartram botanic 
garden, at Kingsessing, near Philadelphia, which exceeds seventy feet in height, 
with a trunk two feet in diameter. 
Soil, Situation, Propagation, <'c. The Diospyros virginiana seems to prefer 
a soft, black soil, rather moist, and requires a sheltered situation. It is usually 
propagated from seeds; but may be increased either by grafting or by layers. 
Properties and Uses. The fresh sap-wood of the Virginian date plum, is of a 
greenish colour, which it preserves after it is seasoned; and the heart-wood is 
brown, hard, compact, strong, and elastic, but liable to split. At Baltimore, 
screws and mallets have been made of it; at Philadelphia, shoe-lasts; and in 
Carolina, wedges for splitting trees. Michaux says that he was assured by the 
coach-makers in Charleston, that they had employed it for the shafts of chaises, 
and found it preferable to the ash, and all other species of wood, except the lance- 
wood of the West Indies. The inner bark, which is exceedingly bitter, is said to 
have been employed with success, not only by the American Indians, but by 
the inhabitants of the regions where this tree abounds, in the cure of intermittent 
fevers. The bark of the root has also been considered a tonic favourable to the 
treatment of dropsies. A greenish gum exudes from the tree, but in very small 
quantities, which never has, as yet, been applied to any useful purpose either as 
a medicine or in the arts. In the middle and western states, the fruit is soine- 
and fermented, yields an ardent spirit, which is said to improve with ag< 
has been asserted by the farmers of Virginia that, grass grows more vigorously 
beneath the persimon than beneath any other tree, and this lact is attributed to 
the speedy decay of its leaves, as well as to those of the common locust, which 
form an excellent manure. 
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