82 FOREST TREES. 
seeds, in the fall, are cleared of their pulpy covering 
by rubbing them in water ; they are then covered with 
earth in a box, and placed in the cellar till spring, 
care being taken to keep the earth moist. 
DIOSPYROS—DATE PLUM, PERSIMMON. 
Natural Order, Hbenacee. 
Calyx and corolla, four to six-lobed; stamens, 
sixteen in the sterile flowers and eight in the fertile, 
in the latter imperfect; berry, large, with the calyx 
‘at the base; four to eight-seeded; flowers, diceciously 
polygamous. 
Diospyros Virginiana—Persimmon. 
Leaves, ovate, oblong, smooth; peduncles, very 
short; calyx, four-parted; corolla, between bell-shaped 
and urn-shaped ; styles, four; two-lobed at the apex ; 
ovary, eight-celled. 
The Persimmon is commonly a small tree, although 
in favorable situations it grows to the height of from 
forty to sixty feet, with a diameter of eighteen to 
twenty-four inches. Trees of this size were formerly 
found near the mouth of the Illinois river. The 
leaves are from four to six inches long, of a fine, 
glossy green above and glaucous beneath. When the 
tree is grown by itself, the top is round, or conical, 
rather open, with crooked, twisted branches, The 
fruit varies in size, shape and time of ripening; when 
green, or not fully ripe, it is intensely astringent. 
The fruit is best if ripened before severe frosts occur. 
Freezing removes the astringency, but is not, as some 
