EBONY FAMILY 



Fruit of the Persimmon, Dto^pi' 



persistent calyx. It ripens in late autumn, is pale orange 

 with a red cheek, often covered with a slight glaucous bloom. 

 One of the delights of the natives 

 in the south is to induce strangers 

 to taste this fruit, for its bitter as- 

 tringency is something that can be 

 known onlv bv experience. The 

 frost is requued to make it edible, 

 but having been subjected to this 

 influence it becomes sweet, juicy 

 and delicious. This peculiar as- 

 tringencv is i.lue to the presence of 

 a tannin siniikir to that of Cinchona. 

 The fruit is much appreciated in the 

 southern states and appears abundantiv in the markets. It is 

 much sought bv tlie opossum, who is supposetl to fatten upon 

 it, and the combination of persimmon, opossum and negro 

 was verv common in the slave songs of ante-bellum days. 



The tree is greativ inclined to varv in the character and 

 quality of its fruit, in size lliis varies from that of a small 

 cherry to a small apple. Some trees in the south produce 

 fruit which is delicious without the action ot the frost, while 

 adjoining trees proiluce fruit that never becomes edible. 



Several varieties of the species, Diospyros K^iki have been 

 cultivated in China and Japan from most ancient times. In- 

 deed this seems to be the universallv cultivateel fruit tree of 

 Japan, is there found in everv garden and by every cottage. 

 The Japanese horticulturists have developed it into almost 

 as manv varieties as our ganleners have matle of the a|i|ile 

 tree. Some of these have lieen introduced into California 

 and are said to flourish there. The California persimmon 

 often offered for sale in our northern markets is the product 

 of this Japanese tree. 



The Persimmon is verv common in the southern and Gulf 

 ;tates, and because of its stoloniferous roots frequently 

 makes extensive thickets in abandoned fields and along the 

 roadsides and fences. 



iqS 



