Persimmons:Nothing to Pucker About

After the holidays is the prime time for my favorite fruit tree. No, I'm not talking about common apples, pears or cherries. Instead, my favorite fruit tree is the persimmon.

Yes, I know even the name makes you pucker. But don't overlook these delightful fruit trees. Some of the fruit is soft, juicy and sweet -- so sweet that dried persimmons have been used as a sweeteneer in Japan. The trees have large, glossy green leaves that turn gold tinged with red in the fall. Sinc the fruit hangs on the tree long after the leaves drop, branches are festooned with orange "ornaments" much of the winter. In fact, trees in our area are decorated with these orange/red "ornaments" right now! Talk about your decorated tree.

Maybe best of all is the fact that persimmons are extremely easy to grow. Unlike most fruit trees, persimmons don't need to be pruned. The trees mature to a shapely pyramid 30 to 40 feet tall, but since they grow slowly, they're a good choice where space is limited. One note, while pruning isn;t required, branches of persimmon trees can be brittle and break off. This is a method of "self-pruning," naturally shedding some branches each year. In general, don't prune except where you want to increase branching or move fruiting wood closer to the trunk to counteract the persimmon's tendency to develop long, drooping branches that need staking once fruit forms on the ends.

Persioon trees are not finicky. They'll tolerate almost any type of soil and will do fine with little or even no water. And, contrary to popular opinion, there's no need to pick and pucker.

There are two distinct types of persimmons: Oriental and Occidental. The kaki or Oriental persimmon (Diospryros kaki) is often sold under the Fuyu variety name. Kaki fruit is large, often weighing a pound. Their shape can be similar to a tomato or apple, and are eaten while still hard. The Occidental or American type of persimmon (D. virginiana) is smaller (about the size of a ping-pong ball) and a bit sweeter.

The bad press concerning the flavor of persimmons is due to astringency. Captain John Smith of the Jamestown colony was quoted as saying of persimmons, "It will draw a man's moutry with much torment."

But John Smith was eating unripe fruit. A persimmon is fit to eat only when ripe and about as mushy as an overripe tomato, at which point the fruit is no longer astringent. Many of the Oriental types like Fuyu are so-called non-astringent varieties. They are exceptions to this rule and should be eaten while still firm like an apple.

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