10 ITALIAN PERSIMMON TREE Dateplum Date Plum Fruit Diospyros Lotus Seeds

Description:
Name: Italian persimoon
Other common names: Dateplum persimmon / Date plum / Caucasian persimmon / Lilac persimmon
Scientific name: Diospyros Lotus
Color: Creamy white flowers / Orangish fruit (changing from yellow – purplish brown)
Plant seeds: Fall sow / Cold stratify
Bloom time: Summer
Harvest: Fall
Hardiness zone: 5 – 10
Plant height: 30′
Plant spacing: 20′
Light requirements: Sun – part shade
Soil & water preferences: Average – moist
Quantity: 10 seeds
Other: The Italian persimoon is native to southeast Europe & southwest Asia. This heirloom species is one of the oldest cultivated plants & is both a parent plant & rootstock provider for many Asian persimmon trees. The trees grow at a medium rate, & have glossy green leaves. They are able to grow in most soils including heavy clay & rocky soils.
Spring flowers develop into fruit as the seasons progress. The fruit starts out yellow & turns orange to red & deeper purplish tones as it ages. The mature fruits typically measure between ½” & ¾”. The ancient Greeks dubbed it “God’s fruit”, but a more useful descriptive nickname is The Date plum, because the fruit tastes like a cross between a date & a plum. These persimmons can be enjoyed as a juicy fresh fruit raw off the tree, dried, or made into jams & countless other delicious treats. The fruit contains lots of sugars and vitamins, & allowing the fruit to go through a frost or drying it brings out its natural sweetness. The Italian persimmon is dioecious, but female trees will still produce seedless fruit without a male tree present.