3.
Diospyros virginiana
Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1057. 1753.
Possumwood
Diospyros mosieri
Small;
D. virginiana
var.
mosieri
(Small) Sargent;
D. virginiana
var.
platycarpa
Sargent;
D. virginiana
var.
pubescens
Nuttall
Trees,
to 15-30(-40) m.
Bark
dark reddish brown, deeply furrowed and irregularly blocky, not flaking.
Leaves
deciduous; petiole 0.7-1 cm; blade dark green and glossy adaxially, broadly ovate to elliptic, (5-)6-15 × 2.5-8 cm, thin, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface glabrous (or sparsely pubescent, especially when young), without basilaminar glands.
Inflorescences
solitary flowers or 2-3-flowered cymes, borne on twigs of current season.
Flowers
1-2 cm; sepals 4; petals 4; stamens 16; anthers dehiscent along their entire length; pistillate flowers usually with 8 staminodes; styles 4, connate basally; ovary glabrous (except at apex).
Berries
yellow to orange or dark red (rarely purple), often glaucous, depressed-globose, globose, oblong, ovoid, or conic, (2-)3-5(-7.5) cm diam., glabrous (except at apex).
Seeds
reddish brown, ellipsoid, ca. 1.5 cm.
2
n
= 60, 90.
Flowering Mar-Jun; fruiting Aug-Dec. Forests, seasonally flooded bottomlands, dry ridgetops, abandoned agricultural land; 0-1100 m; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Miss., Mo., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., S.C., Tex., Va., W.Va.
The extensive morphological variation in
Diospyros virginiana
, coupled with variable chromosomal races, merits further taxonomic study. Pubescent leaves and purple fruits, most common in the Ozark region, suggest past hybridization with
D. texana
. These and other distinctive traits may characterize whole clonal groves through root-suckering. The fruits were an important food for wildlife, native peoples, and Euro-American colonists, but have never been effectively commercialized, despite selection of superior clones over the years. Wild persimmons are extremely astringent until thoroughly ripe. The tough, hard wood has been used for shuttles and heads of golf clubs.
