American persimmon (TVA, White's Creek Small Wild Area, Plants)

American persimmon

Diospyros virginiana

Summary ⁶

Diospyros virginiana is a persimmon species commonly called the American Persimmon,Common Persimmon,Eastern Persimmon, "'Simmon", "Possumwood", or "Sugar-plum". It ranges from southern Connecticut/Long Island to Florida, and west to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The tree grows wild but has been cultivated for its fruit and wood since prehistoric times by Native Americans.

Adaptation ⁷

Common persimmon grows over a wide range of conditions from dry, sterile, sandy woodlands to river bottoms to rocky hillsides. Growth is best on terraces of large streams and river bottoms with clays and heavy loams; usual sites in the Mississippi Delta are wet flats, shallow sloughs, and swamp margins. It thrives in full sun but also is shade-tolerant and can persist in the understory. It is an early pioneer on abandoned and denuded cropland and is common on roadsides and fencerows. Common persimmon often is seen as thickets (derived from root suckers) in open fields and pastures. This species flowers in March-June and fruits in September-November.

Damaging agents ⁸

A number of insects attack persimmon but normally do no serious harm (9). A bark and phloem borer (Agrilus fuscipennis) infests living persimmon and the persimmon borer (Sannina uroceriformis) tunnels in the stems and taproots of young trees and damages nursery stock. Caterpillars may defoliate the trees in early summer and into mid summer. The principal defoliators are a webworm (Seiarctica echo) and the hickory horned devil (Citheronia regalis). Unless sprayed, they may defoliate and severely damage a young plant. No serious damage to the merchantable part of living trees is recorded. The twig girdler (Oncideres cingulata) retards growth by cutting off smaller branches. The wood of dying and dead trees is often riddled by the false powderpost beetle (Xylobiops basilaris).

Cephalosporium diospyri causes persimmon wilt, a fungus disease that kills many trees in central Tennessee and the Southeastern States (1). The disease is characterized by a sudden wilting of the leaves, followed by defoliation and death of the branches from the top down. An infected tree often lives 1 or 2 years after this symptom appears. Diseased trees should be burned, and cuts and bruises on other trees should be painted to prevent entry by wind-borne spores. No disease-resistant trees have been found. A wound is necessary for primary infection. The hickory twig girdler and powderpost beetle cause the majority of wounds in healthy trees. As soon as the tree dies, the fungus produces spores in large quantities between the bark and the wood near the base of the tree.

Because common persimmon is often considered noxious in pastures and fields, much effort has been expended in its control and eradication (2). It is easily defoliated with 2,4,5-T at 1.1 kg/ha (1 lb/acre) or less but sprouts readily from both stem and roots after treatment. Treatment is most effective in May when leaves are fully expanded. Additives (Ethephon, MAA, and TIBA) increase both the defoliation and kill of persimmon. Surfactants increase effectiveness of 2,4,5-T. Picloram in combination with 2,4,5-T, and dicamba, alone and in combination with 2,4,5-T, has also given good control. Soil application of picloram and dicamba at 6.7 kg/ha (6 lb/acre) gave kills of 75 and 70 percent, respectively. Complete top kill was possible by injecting undiluted solutions of dicamba or mixtures of 2,4,5-T and dicamba.

Tordon 101 or Esteron 99 at 7.6 liters (2 gal) plus triclopyr at 9.4 liters/ha (1 gal/acre) and Tordon at 37 liters/ha (4 gal/acre) gave 100 percent control of persimmon (4).

Undiluted 2,4-D dimethylamine killed persimmon when applied in 1- or 2-ml (0.03- or 0.07-oz) dosages in injections placed edge-to-edge up to 23 cm (9 in) apart around the stem (11). A 4-to-1 mixture of triisoproponolamine salts of 2,4-D plus picloram was also effective.

Habitat characteristics ⁹

More info for the terms: shrubs, swamp

Common persimmon grows on a wide variety of sites but grows best on
terraces of large streams and river bottoms. It grows best on alluvial
soils such as clays and heavy loams. In the Mississippi Delta, usual
sites are wet flats, shallow sloughs, and swamp margins. In the Midwest
it grows on poorly drained upland sites, but growth there is very slow
[6,17,20,23].

Common overstory associates not listed under Distribution and Occurrence
include eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), sugar maple (Acer
saccharum), yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera),, boxelder (Acer
negundo), red maple (A. rubrum), sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), and
cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia). Common shrubs and noncommercial tree
associates include swamp-privet (Forestiera acuminata), rough-leaf
dogwood (Cornus drummondii), hawthorns (Crataegus spp.), water-elm
(Planera acquatica), shining sumac (Rhus copallina), and smooth sumac
(R. glabra) [6,15,26].

Special uses ¹⁰

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and very close grained. The average number of rings is 5.5 per cm (14 per in) (12). Specific gravity of light-brown sapwood is 0.79; a 0.028 m³ (1.0 ft³ ) block weighs about 22 kg (49 lb). Because of its hardness, smoothness, and even texture, it is particularly desirable for turnery, plane stocks, shoe lasts, shuttles, and golf club heads.

Persimmon is sometimes planted for its edible fruit. Dried fruit is added to baked goods and occasionally is fermented with hops, cornmeal, or wheat bran into a sort of beer. The dried, roasted, ground seeds have been used as a substitute for coffee.

Several cultivars are available with improved fruit size and quality. In native persimmon areas, top working or grafting on suckers is a good way to get superior cultivars into bearing quickly. One staminate tree seems sufficient to pollinate at least 23 pistillate trees of the same race (8). The pulp is very astringent when not ripe, but after a frost in the fall, when the fruit turns yellow orange, the flesh is pleasing in taste (12). The fruit is eaten by many species of song birds, also by the skunk, raccoon, opossum, gray and fox squirrels, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, bobwhite, crows, rabbits, hogs, and cattle (5). It may, however, cause sickness in livestock. Deer browse readily on persimmon sprouts, but cattle graze them only lightly.

Seeds and fruits are generally low in crude protein, crude fat, and calcium but high in nitrogen-free extract and tannin (13).

The inner bark and unripe fruit are sometimes used in treatment of fevers, diarrhea, and hemorrhage. Indelible ink is made from fruit.

Persimmon is valued as an ornamental because of its hardiness, adaptability to a wide range of soils and climates, its lustrous leaves, its abundant crop of fruits, and its immunity from disease and insects. It has been introduced into Europe.

The tree is suitable for erosion control on deeper soils because of its deep root system, but this same characteristic makes it difficult to plant.

Persimmon is considered a woody weed in unimproved pastures, and it prevents many areas from being grazed effectively. Inoculation of persimmon stumps with a fungus (Cephalosporium diospyri) was found to be an effective means of preventing subsequent sprouting.

Persimmon flowers are useful in the production of honey.

Sources and Credits

(c) DM, some rights reserved (CC BY-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/42076387@N00/4991332753
(c) Biodiversity Heritage Library, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/8592455530/
(c) Mary Keim, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/38514062@N03/14063086253/
(c) Wendell Smith, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/wendellsmith/16381074072/
(c) Fritz Flohr Reynolds, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/fritzflohrreynolds/7511038838/
Adapted by Jonathan (JC) Carpenter from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diospyros_virginiana
Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/1383014
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/22778450
Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/24641203
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/22778452

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