PL 335. 
THE KAKI OR JAPANESE PERSIMMON. 
(Diospyros laki L. f.) 
One of the largest collections of kakis or Japanese persimmons in the United States is that main- 
tained by the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction at Chico, Calif. Represented in 
this collection are the best of the 350 introductions which have been secured during the past 
twenty-five years from Japan and China, countries in which the kaki is cultivated extensively 
and where practically all varieties now known have had their origin. The range in form and 
size which occurs in this species is well illustrated by the above photograph, which shows the 
varieties fruiting at Chico in 1922. Among the most interesting ones are the following: Row 1, 
fruit 1, S. P. I. 13823, Hachiya, now the most common commercial variety, with yellow flesh and 
astringent; row 1, fruit 6, S. P. I. 13841, Euro kuma, with dark flesh and nonastringent ; row 1, 
fruit 7, S. P. I. 13846, Shalcumi, also dark fleshed and nonastringent; row 4, fruit 2, S. P. I. 22362, 
Tamopan, with yellow flesh and astringent; row 4, fruit 7, S. P. I. 26491, Fuyu, yellow fleshed 
and very promising commercially because it is never astringent. The two small fruits in the 
bottom row are of Diospyros lotus. (Photographed by P. H. Dorsett, Plant Introduction Garden, 
Chico, Calif., October 20, 1922; P28345FS.) 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
