265 



white, the whole inflorescence covered with a short gray pubescence; 

 fruit a capsule about 0.5 cm. long on an erect and recurved pedicel of 

 about the same length, maturing in autumn. 



Distribution. A tree of the elevated regions of the area from 

 southeastern Pennsylvania to Florida and west to southern Indiana 

 and south to Louisiana. In Indiana it is definitely known to occur only 

 in Perry County at the base of a beech spur of the VanBuren Ridge about 

 7 miles southeast of Cannelton. Here it is a common tree over an area 

 of an acre or two. The largest tree measured was about 1.5 dm. in 

 diameter and 12 meters high. Here it is associated with beech, sugar 

 maple, dogwood, sassafras, etc. When coppiced it grows long slender 

 shoots which the boys of the pioneers used for arrows. A pioneer who 

 lived near this colony of trees is the author of this use of the wood and 

 he called the tree "arrow wood." 



EBENACEAE. THE EBONY FAMILY. 



Diospyros virginiana Linnaeus. PERSIMMON. Plate 123. Small 

 or medium sized trees with deeply and irregularly fissured bark, the 

 ridges broken up into short lengths; twigs pubescent; leaves alternate, 

 oval, oblong-oval or ovate, generally 8-15 cm. long and 3-7 cm. wide, 

 narrowed, rounded or cordate at the base, short pointed at the apex, 

 margin entire but ciliate, slightly pubescent above when young, be- 

 coming glabrous on age, more or less pubescent beneath, sometimes 

 glabrous except the midrib and margin; flowers appear in May or June 

 on the year's growth when the leaves are about half grown, greenish 

 yellow, the staminate on one tree and the pistillate on another; fruit 

 ripens in August, September or October, depressed-globose or oblong 

 in shape, 2-3 cm. in diameter, generally with 1-4 very hard flat seed. 



Distribution. Connecticut to Iowa and south to the Gulf. In 

 Indiana it is confined to the south half of the State. We have no 

 record of wild trees being found north of Indianapolis, except Prof. 

 Stanley Coulter reports three trees growing in Tippecanoe County in 

 situations such as to indicate that they are native. It is doubtful if it 

 was ever more than a frequen t tree in the original forest. In some of 

 the hill counties of the south central part of the State, it has become a 

 common tree in clearings and abandoned fields. It grows long surface 

 roots from which numerous suckers grow which form the "persimmon 

 thickets." It seems to thrive in the poorest and hardest of soils. 

 However, it reaches its greatest size in the alluvial bottoms of the 

 Lower Wabash Valley. Here large and tall trees have been observed 

 on the low border of sloughs, associated with such water-loving plants as 



