SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 
occur as far north as Peking, and so may be 
mentioned here. 
In the wild state the Persimmon is rather rare, 
occurring in Chihli round Ch’ang-li-Hsien on the 
Peking-Moukden Railway, not far from the sea 
coast, and also in the mountains west of Pao-ting 
Fu. This plant, known as Diospyros lotus, pro- 
duces a small yellow fruit, which nevertheless has 
a good flavour. This wild form is used as a stock, 
upon which the cultivated varieties are grafted. 
Another wild form, which occurs in Shansi 
and Shensi, produces a very small black fruit with 
large stones or pips. This is called by the Chinese 
“He tsao,’’ meaning “ black jujube.” 
Of the cultivated varieties the largest and most 
prized is known as the “ Ta mo pan ” Persimmon. 
This is a fine golden-orange coloured fruit, practi- 
cally seedless, and of a sweet flavour. It is non- 
astringent, a much to be desired quality in Per- 
simmons. There are numerous other smaller vari- 
eties, of which one occurs in the mountains along 
the border line between Shansi and Chihli. A 
very sweet red Persimmon grows in Honan and 
South Shensi. . 
The Chinese dry the fruit of the Persimmon, 
which is then very pleasant and wholesome to eat. 
The best dried fruit comes from Pei-t’ung-kuan, 
just north of the Wei Valley in Shensi. 
Throughout the mountainous regions of all 
the northern provinces the Wild Peach (Amygdalus 
229 
