Diospyros

Thesaurus

Noun

Diospyros - a genus of trees or shrubs that have beautiful and valuable woodgenus Diospyrosdicot genus, magnoliopsid genus - genus of flowering plants having two cotyledons (embryonic leaves) in the seed which usually appear at germinationEbenaceae, ebony family, family Ebenaceae - fruit and timber trees of tropical and warm regions including ebony and persimmonDiospyros ebenum, ebony tree, ebony - tropical tree of southern Asia having hard dark-colored heartwood used in cabinetworkAndaman marble, Diospyros kurzii, marblewood, marble-wood - large Asiatic tree having hard marbled zebrawoodpersimmon, persimmon tree - any of several tropical trees of the genus DiospyrosDiospyros kaki, Japanese persimmon, kaki - small deciduous Asiatic tree bearing large red or orange edible astringent fruitAmerican persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, possumwood - medium-sized tree of dry woodlands in the southern and eastern United States bearing yellow or orange very astringent fruit that is edible when fully ripe

Diospyros

persimmon

This healthy fruit can be eaten like an apple. Very easy to grow, never has insects, fruits never gets wormy and is very prolific. This is a nocare plant. You can get a tremendous crop of persimmons from one plant. Grows all over from tropics to up north. Eat them fresh, make smoothies, add to salads etc. One of the most popular fruit in China and Japan. Wait till the fruit turns a bright orange and becomes soft to an almost pudding consistency. You can eat it fresh like an apple, dry it, , puree it, freeze it for winter time. Adding cinnamon or nutmeg makes it taste like pumpkin pie. Grows to 50 ft tree. Flowers greenish yellow. Fruits round like plums. Plant is quite astringent, so its good for stopping heavy menses and other bleeding problems. Inner bark tea used for stomach and bowel problems, cancer. Fruit is astringent, used for constipation, gastro-intestinal irritation, dysentery, chronic diarrhea, ulcers and problems of the bowel, rectum and stomach, helps stop bleeding. Persimmon leaf tea is anti-hypertensive, anticarcinogenic, and anti-mutagenic properties, anti-hemorrhagic (stops bleeding), good for hemorrhoids, strengthens weak blood vessels such as spider veins or varicose veins. Used for allergies, hay fever, dermatitis. Compounds in leaves bind to excess fat and help remove fat from the body.

Diospyros

(persimmon), a genus of subtropical and tropical deciduous plants of the family Ebenaceae. The trees or shrubs have simple evergreen or deciduous leaves and fleshy two- to ten-seeded berries. The plants are distributed mainly in Southwest Asia. There are about 200 species; three occur in the USSR. The date plum (D. lotus) is a tree reaching 16 m in height. Its entire, elongate leaves are dark green above and shiny. The tiny axillary flowers are dioecious or polygamous. The fruits, which reach 2 cm in diameter, are round, yellow-orange, and edible. In dried form they contain more than 40 percent sugar and 0.5 percent malic acid. A tree may yield as much as 80 kg of fruit. The date plum is a good stock for the Japanese persimmon (D. kaki). In the USSR the tree grows wild and is cultivated in the Caucasus and Middle Asia. The common persimmon (D. virginiana) is a dioecious tree measuring 20–25 m tall. The ovate or oval leaves are 8–14 cm long; they are shiny above and dark green. The flowers are unisexual, small, and colorless. The very tasty spherical or conical fruits are 2–5 cm in diameter and weigh up to 25 g; they are yellow with a red cheek. Their content includes 40 percent sugar, 0.88 percent protein, and 0.5 percent malic acid. The fruits are used in fresh form (after complete ripening), in processed form as jam and alcohol, and in dried form. The yield is up to 300 kg per tree. The wood is used for furniture and musical instruments. The common persimmon can tolerate temperatures as low as –30°C for short periods of time.

The most commonly cultivated species is the Japanese persimmon, a dioecious or monoecious tree 8–12 m tall. The large alternate leaves are oval, dark green, leathery, and pubescent beneath; they turn red before falling. The staminate flowers are small and in tufts; the pistillate and bisexual flowers are solitary and light green. The variously shaped orange-yellow or tomato-red fruits are fleshy and large, reaching 8 cm in diameter. The pulp of ripe fruits is jelly-like, and it is pale yellow, bright yellow, dark red, or brown. The unripe fruits of many varieties have an extremely astringent taste. The Japanese persimmon is native to China and Japan. It is grown on a small scale in the USA, Italy, Spain, Australia, and countries of South America. In the USSR the tree is grown in Western and Eastern Georgia, in Azerbaijan, in Krasnodar Krai (along the Black Sea coast), and in southern regions of the Crimea, the Uzbek SSR, the Tadzhik SSR, and the Turkmen SSR. It tolerates frosts to – 20°C but thrives only in certain soils. The best varieties for fruits used in fresh form are Hachiya, Sydlis (high tannin content, medium-ripening, fruits always light-fleshed), Hyakume (medium-ripening, standard), Zengi (early-ripening, standard), and Tsuru (low tannin content, late-ripening). After complete ripening, fresh fruits contain 25 percent sugar, 1.5 percent protein, and 0.85 percent fat. The vita-min-C content is 40 mg, and iron and other valuable microelements are present. The fruits are a superb dessert and keep under refrigeration for six months or more. The green fruits and leaves have a high tannin content. The fruit yield is as much as 250 kg per tree. The wood is used for furniture and musical instruments. Propagation is by stratified seeds or, more often, by grafting.

REFERENCES

Plodovodstvo, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1966.
Zhukovskii, P. M. Kul’turnye rasteniia i ikh sorodichi, 3rd ed. Leningrad, 1971.

A. D. ALEXANDROV

Diospyros

Diospyros

persimmon

Diospyros

REFERENCES

Diospyros

Synonyms for Diospyros

noun a genus of trees or shrubs that have beautiful and valuable wood

Synonyms

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