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Japanese persimmon Ebenaceae Diospyros kaki L.f. Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol: DIKA2
Leaf: Alternate, simple, deciduous, oblong to oval, 2 1/2 to 5 inches long, thickened, pinnately-veined, margin entire, shiny green above and paler or below.
Flower: Species is usually dioecious, but some varieties have perfect flowers; both about 1 inch; females creamy white, solitary, and urn-shaped; male flowers in 3's, tubular, and pink to white; appearing in late spring and early summer.
Fruit: A plum-like berry that is green before ripening, turning orange to red when ripe, to 4 inches in diameter, with bracts retained top of fruit. The fruit is very sweet and edible when ripe, but some varieties are somewhat astringent; matures in mid to late fall and persisting into early winter.
Twig: Slender, reddish-brown; no true terminal bud and twig scar is often very prominent, buds triangular, appressed, reddish-brown with 2 bud scales; leaf scar semi-circular.
Bark: When young gray-brown with orange in fissures, later becoming much darker, breaking up into prominent ridges.
Form: A small tree to 30 feet with a round crown.
 leaf fruit twig map
Additional Range Information: Diospyros kaki is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database
All material © 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information