61. DIOSPYROS VIRGIN IANA PERSIMMON. 25 



61. DIOSPYROS VIRGINIANA, L. 



PERSIMMON, DATE-PLUM. 



Ger., Virginische Dattelpflaume ; Fr., Plaqueminier de Virginie ; Sp., 



Per simon. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: Leaves thickisli, ovate-oblong, abruptly pointed, entire, 

 smooth or nearly so above and somewhat pubescent on the veins beneath and petioles. 

 Flowers (June) 4-nurnerous, corolla pale greenish-yellow, somewhat bell-shaped, 

 thickish, over 4- in. in length in the fertile flowers and less in the sterile. Fruit, 

 (October and November) as described for the genus, about 1 in. in diameter, orange 

 red and exceedingly astringent until after the occurrence of frost when it becomes 

 palatable and delicious. In the south, however, this austerity is not so marked, and 

 the agency of the frost there does not seem to be required for rendering the fruit 

 edible. 



Usually a small tree, but under favorable conditions attaining the 

 height of 80 ft. (26 m.) with a trunk 2 ft. (0.60 m.) in diameter, and 

 rarely even surpassing those dimensions. It develops a straight, round 

 trunk covered with a very characteristic dark-brown bark, furrowed by 

 longitudinal ridges which are cut by transverse checks into squares and 

 polygons. Bark very astringent and bitter. 



It yields such an abundance of fruit at times as to leave the ground 

 beneath almost covered with its seeds after the fruit has decayed. 



HABITAT. Eastern United States from Rhode Island and Connecticut 

 southward to Florida and Texas, and is especially well developed in the 

 Ohio valley, growing in woods and old fields. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood rather heavy, hard, strong, close- 

 grained and taking a beautiful polish. The heart-wood is of a dark- 

 brown color or black and the sap light-yellow bearing black spots. The 

 heart-wood is only apparent in very old trees. A tree about 14 inches in 

 diameter, felled for the accompanying sections, contained upwards of 

 sixty rings of sap-wood, and only two or three of the small heart which 

 was scarcely thicker than a lead pencil. Other trees examined, by boring 

 into them with an auger, in hopes of finding one with larger heart, proved 

 to be no better. Specific Gravity, 0.7908; Percentage of Ash, 0.96; Rel- 

 ative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.7832; Coefficient of Elasticity, 78234; 

 Modulus of Rupture, 879; Resistance to Longitudinal Pressure, 503; 

 Resistance to Indentation, 324; Weight of a Cubic Foot in Pounds, 49.28. 



USES. The wood is used to some extent in the manufacture of shoe- 

 lasts, plane-stocks, etc., and particularly for shuttles. 



Although the fruit is of considerable value the tree is not often grown 

 for that alone. It is thought, however, that by careful selection and 

 cultivation the fruit might become so much improved as to make this an 

 important fruit-tree possibly equal to the Japanese tree. 

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