Japanese Persimmon, Oriental Persimmon, Sharon Fruit, Kaki

Persimmon, sometimes called Oriental Persimmon or
Japanese Persimmon is a native of possibly China,
and it comes from the...Read More Ebony Family, Ebenaceae.

Its scientific name of Diospyros kaki tells us
that it was good enough to be named the food of
the gods.

DIOS = gods SPYROS = wheat (food)

Persimmon nomenclatures however are full of
distorted or abbreviated Oriental, primarily
Japanese names, the original versions of which
were used to identify the plants when they were
imported into the US. Today, we have a number of
cultivars with Asiatic or pseudo-Asiatic names
and meanings, as well as some with truly American
names.

Here are some of the most common oriental words
found in Persimmon nomenclatures today and their
English meanings:

FUYU = winter
GOSHO = imperial palace
HANA = flower of
ICHI = #1
KAKI / GAKI = persimmon
KI = life
SAIJO = best
TANENASHI = without seed
WASE = early

The unique shapes of Persimmons can be classified
as follows:

(1) Conic (coneshaped)
(2) Roundish (round and sometimes pointed at the
apex like an acorn
(3) Oblate (flattened like a large standard tomato).
(4) Indented ring around the fruit like in ‘Midia’ and
‘Tamopan’.
(5) Four sides will sometimes be apparent like in
‘Great Wall’ or ‘Saijo’.
(6) Distinctly lobed sections like in ‘Sheng’ and
‘Peiping’.
(7) Some cultivars are tucked or folded in at the
calyx like in ‘Suruga’.

Fuyu with the Product Look-Up (PLU) code of 4428
is the cultivar that is grown the most in the US.
Israel grows an identical persimmon under the name of
“Sharon” that is widely sold in US Supermarkets
under the same PLU of 4428.

All Persimmons can be divided into two basic
categories; non-astringent and astringent.

(A)NON-ASTRINGENT CULTIVARS

(1)EARLY SEASON
"Izu"

(2)MID-SEASON
“Hana Fuyu”, also known as “Yotsundani”
“Giant Fuyu”.
“Matsumoto Wase Fuyu” is an earlier ripening bud
sport of “Fuyu” discovered by Mr. Matsumoto.
“Hanagosho”
“Shogatsu”
“Jiro”
“Ichikikei Jiro” is a bud sport from “Jiro”.
“Midia” is the largest of the non-astringent types
with fruit often weighing 3/4 of a pound.

(3)LATE SEASON
“Fuyu”, is also known as Fuyugaki, is the most popular
non-astringent tree in Florida and is the most widely grown
persimmon cultivar in the world.
“Suruga”, is the sweetest of the non-astringent types.

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(B)ASTRINGENT CULTIVARS

(1)EARLY SEASON
“Nishumura Wase”
“Saijo”, is considered one of the sweetest persimmons.
It is a good homeowner type.
“Giombo”, is similar to “Saijo” in fruit quality, the fruit
is a connoisseur”s choice.

(2)MID-SEASON
“Hachiya”, is a commercial cultivar in California.
“Tanenashi”, is the most popular astringent cultivar
in Florida, matures heavy crops without pollination
and will seldom set seed even if pollinated. It is a
good tree for homeowners.
“Hiratanenashi”, is a widely grown commercial cultivar
in Japan.
“Sheng”
“Great Wall”
“Tamopan”, is a cultivar with large fruit having a circular
depression around the top nearest the stem.
“Yomato Hyakume”.
“Eureka”, is a common cultivar in Texas.
“Gailey”
“Ormond”, is sometimes called the Christmas persimmon.
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Japanese Persimon (or Kaki) is an apreciated fruit over here in Brazil. It has a sweet, but not strong taste. It looks like a tomato, and...Read More it´s peel is as thin as a tomato´s.

Nowadays, the fruits comercialized don´t have seeds, so it´s generally propagated by cuttings or graftings.