112 
PERSIMON. 
PLATE XCII. 
A branch with leaves and flowers. Fig. 1 . Fruit. 
PERSIMON. 
Polygamia dicecia. Linn. Guaiacanæ. Juss. 
Diospyros viginiana. D. foliis longé petiolatis, oblongo-ovalibus, acuminatis, 
subtùs pubescentibus. 
The banks of the river Connecticut, below the 42d degree of latitude, 
may be considered as the northern limit of this tree ; but it is rendered rare 
in these parts by the severity of the winter, while in the State of New Jer- 
sey, near the city of New York, it is common, and still more so in Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland, and the Southern States : it abounds, also, in the west- 
ern forests. It is every where known to the Americans by the name of 
Persimon ; the French call it Plaqueminier , and its fruit plaquemines. 
The Persimon varies surprisingly in size in different soils and climates. 
In the vicinity of New York it is not more than half as large as in the more 
Southern States, where, in favorable situations, it is sometimes 60 feet in 
height, and 18 or 20 inches in diameter. 
The leaves are from 4 to 6 inches in length, oblong, entire, of a fine 
green above and glaucous beneath : in the fall they are often variegated 
with black spots. The terminal shoots are observed to be usually accom- 
panied, at the base, by small rounded leaves. 
This tree belongs to the class of vegetables whose sexes are confined to 
different stocks. Both the barren and fertile flowers are greenish, and not 
strikingly apparent. The ripe fruit is about as large as the thumb, of a 
reddish complexion, round, fleshy, and furnished with 6 or 8 semi-oval 
stones, slightly swollen at the sides, and of a dark purple color. It is not 
eatable till it has felt the first frost, by which the skin is shrivelled, and the 
pulp, which before was hard and extremely harsh to the taste, is softened 
and rendered palatable. The fruit is so abundant that in the Southern 
States a tree often yields several bushels, and even in New Jersey I have 
