1196 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



Variety. 



1 D. v. 2 didds Prince's Cat. for 1829, Foreman's Sweet Persiraon, is 



characterised as having sweeter fruit than the species. 

 Description, Geography, $c. The persimon is readily distinguished from 

 the European date plum, by its leaves being nearly of the same shade of 

 green on both surfaces ; while those of the latter are of a dark purplish green 

 above, and much paler, and furnished with somewhat of a pinkish down, be- 

 neath. The leaves of the persimon vary from 4 in. to Gin. in length; and 

 when they drop off in the autumn they are often variegated with black spots. 

 The size of the tree varies as much as that of the leaves . In the vicinity of 

 New York, it is seldom more than 30 ft. high ; but in the southern states 

 it attains the height of 60 ft., or more, with a trunk 18 in. or 20 in. in diameter. 

 The tree is found in a wild state in North America, from 42 N. lat. to Louis- 

 iana. It is common in the state of New Jersey, and still more so in Penn- 

 sylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. When it was brought to England is 

 uncertain ; but it has been in cultivation, though not very common, since the 

 time of Parkinson. The fruit of this species is so abundant in the southern 

 states of North America, that one tree often yields several bushels. The 

 fruit, when ripe, is about the size of a bullace plum, reddish, and furnished 

 with 6 8 oval stones, which are slightly swollen at the sides, and of a dark 

 purple colour. The fruit is not palatable till it has been softened by frost, 

 when it becomes sweet, though still astringent. It adheres to the branches, 

 long after the leaves have dropped ; and, when it falls, it is eagerly devoured 

 by wild and domestic animals. In Virginia, the Carolinas, and the western 

 states, the fruit is sometimes gathered up, pounded with bran, and formed 

 into cakes, which are dried in an oven, and kept to make beer. For this pur- 

 pose, they are disolved in warm water, and hops and yeast are added to the 

 mixture. The fruit itself, bruised and fermented, yields an ardent spirit, 

 which is said to become excellent when it acquires age. The wood of the tree 

 is greenish in the softer parts ; but the heart-wood is brown, hard, compact, 

 and 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 coachmakers 

 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 farmers in Virginia assert that grass grows more 

 vigorously beneath the persimon than beneath any other tree; and this fact is 

 attributed to the speedy decay of its leaves, which form an excellent manure. 

 A greenish gum exudes from the tree, but in very small quantities, and no use 

 has yet been made of it. The inner barjt, which is extremely bitter, is said 

 to have been employed with success in intermittent fevers. In Britain, and 

 throughout Europe, it is cultivated solely as an ornamental tree. It is pro- 

 pagated by seeds, and seems to prefer a soft black soil, rather moist, and a 

 sheltered situation. 



Statistics. The largest tree of this species, in the neighbourhood of London, is in the arboretum at 

 Kew, where it is 40 ft. high; at Syon, there is a tree 17ft. high, diameter of the trunk 10 in., and 

 that of the head 20 ft. In Bedfordshire, at Ampthill, there is a tree, 85 years planted, which is 25 ft. 

 high, the diameter of the trunk 1$ ft., and of the head 30ft.j the soil loamy, on a clayey subsoil. 

 In Berkshire, at White Knights, a tree, 24 years planted, is 18 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 

 8 in and of the head 14 ft. In Staffordshire, in the Handsworth Nursery, a tree, 10 years planted, 

 is 12 ft. high. In Worcestershire, at Croome, a tree, 20 years planted, is 20 ft. high. In France, the 

 tree attains about the same height as the .Diospyros Z/btus, in the neighbourhood of Paris, and ripens 

 its fruit In Germany, in the neighbourhood of Vienna, there are old trees of this species, between 

 .30 ft. and 40 ft. high. In Italy, at Monza, a tree, 24 years planted, is 40 ft. high. In North America, 

 in Bertram's Botanic Garden, there is a specimen 80ft. high. 



Commercial Statistics. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 1*. 6rf. each, 

 and seeds 1*. per packet; at Bollwyll'T, 1 franc each ; at New York, plants 

 of the species are 50 cents each, and of a variety named Foreman's sweet per- 

 simon, 75 cents each. 



3. D. (v.) PUBE'SCENS Pursh. The downy-leaved Virginian Date Plum. 



Identification. Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 265. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 38. 

 Synonymc. D. virginiana var. Michx. Arb. For. 



