273. PERSIMMON (_Diospyros virginiana_ L.) a common small or rarely
large tree, on dry, open ground, old fields or sometimes rich bottom
lands. Leaves: ovate, entire, 4 to 6 inches long, dark and shining
above, paler beneath. Twigs: slender, light brown or ashy gray, with a
thick pith cavity. Bark: dark, divided into nearly square blocks.
Flowers: dioecious, pistillate solitary bell-shaped about ¾ inch deep
and ½ inch wide; staminate shorter and tubular clustered in 2’s or 3’s;
both creamy colored, opening in May. Fruit: soft, round, orange-brown,
about 1 to 2 inches across, containing many large, flat, smooth seeds;
edible, ripe in fall and winter, whenever the calyx separates readily
from the fruit. Wood: hard, dense, strong; brown or black heartwood,
wide sapwood white or yellowish; used for shuttles, golf-stick heads,
but not commercially valuable.