Description
D. virginiana – American Persimmon – Possumwood This large, upright, deciduous tree from Eastern USA grows 50-100′ feet tall and 35′ feet wide in the wild but in cultivation it is usually 20-30′ feet tall.It has a distinctive “alligator-hide” bark and oval, simple, glossy, dark green leaves, to 5″ long, paler beneath, which turn red in autumn.It bears cream flowers, 3/8-3/4″ long, both male and female on the same tree, or dioecious, followed by sweet edible, spherical, yellow-orange fruit, to 1 ½” across ripening to orange or purple-red The timber white ebony is valued for its durability.It is more drought tolerant then others.
(With such a large and diverse genus it is difficult to generalize growing requirements.They are frost hardy to frost tender and generally like deep, fertile, moist but well drained loamy soil in full sun, preferably sheltered from cold, drying winds, and late frosts.
zones 4-9
