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Diospyros kaki

(Japanese Persimmon)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Chinese:

Shi, Shi Zi

Common Names in English:

Japanese Persimmon, Chinese Persimmon, Japanese Kaki, Kaki, Kaki Persimmon, Oriental Persimmon, Saijo Persimmon, Sharon Fruit

Common Names in French:

Kaki, Plaqueminier, Plaqueminier De Chine, Plaqueminier Du Japon, Rague Mine

Common Names in German:

Kaki, Kakibaum, Kakipflaume

Common Names in Japanese:

Kaki, Kakinoki

Common Names in Korean:

Kamnamu

Common Names in Malay:

Buah Kaki, Buah Kesemek, Buah Samak, Kesemek (Indonesia), Pisang Kaki

Common Names in Russian:

Churma Vostočnaja, Kaki, Khurma Iaponskaia, Khurma Kaki, цхурма восточная

Common Names in Spanish:

Caqui, Kaki, Kaki Del Japón, Placa Minera, Sapote Chino

Common Names in Thai:

Phlap Chin

Description

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Family Ebenaceae

Trees or erect shrubs , occasionally with spine-tipped branchlets . Leaves alternate, rarely opposite, entire; stipules absent. Flowers actinomorphic , usually unisexual , dioecious, or polygamous, rarely bisexual . Male flowers often in cymes, sometimes in clusters or solitary; pistil rudimentary or absent. Female flowers often solitary, axillary , imperfect or without stamens. Calyx 3--7-lobed, persistent and often becoming enlarged in female or bisexual flowers; lobes abutting or overlapping in bud. Corolla 3--7-lobed; lobes convolute, rarely overlapping or abutting. Stamens hypogynous or at bottom of corolla, 2--4 X as many as corolla lobes, rarely as many as corolla lobes and alternate with them; filaments free or united in pairs. Ovary superior, 2--16-locular; ovules 1 or 2 per locule. Styles 2--8, free or basally united; stigma entire or 2-lobed. Fruit a ± fleshy berry, with few to several seeds. Seeds usually oblong ; endosperm sometimes ruminate ; hilum small.

Three genera and ca. 500 species: mostly in the tropics; one genus and 60 species (43 endemic) in China.[1]

Genus Diospyros

Trees or shrubs , deciduous or evergreen . Terminal buds absent. Branchlet tips sometimes forming a spine. Leaves alternate, occasionally minutely translucent dotted or with gland pits. Flowers dioecious or polygamous. Male flowers in axillary cymes, usually on basal part of current year's branchlets, deciduous soon after anthesis ; stamens 4 to numerous , often paired and forming 2 whorls; ovary rudimentary . Female flowers usually solitary, axillary; staminodes 1--16 or absent; stigma often 2-cleft. Calyx usually 3--5(--7) -lobed, sometimes truncate . Corolla urn-shaped, campanulate , or tubular , 3--5(--7) -lobed, deciduous. Berries fleshy to somewhat leathery, usually with an enlarged persistent calyx. Seeds 1--10(or more), often laterally compressed .

About 485 species: pantropical and extending into temperate regions ; 60 species in China, most abundant in SE and SW China, several incompletely known and of uncertain status. [2]

Physical Description

Species Diospyros kaki

Trees , to 27 m tall, deciduous. Young branchlets densely pubescent to glabrous , sometimes with reddish brown lenticels . Winter buds small, blackish. Petiole 0.8--2 cm; leaf blade lanceolate, elliptic , or ovate , occasionally obovate , 5--18 X 2.6--9 cm, papery , pubescent when young drying brown, adaxially often glabrescent when mature and paler with dark veinlets , base cuneate, subtruncate, or rarely cordate, apex usually acuminate, lateral veins 5--7 per side, reticulate veinlets clearly defined, flat, and dark. Male flowers small, in 3--5-flowered cymes; calyx ± as long as corolla, hairy on both sides, lobes 4; corolla white, yellowish white, or red, 6--10 mm; stamens (14--) 16--24. Female flowers solitary; calyx 3 cm or more in diam., lobes 4; corolla usually yellowish white, campanulate , (0.9--) 1--1.6 cm, lobes recurved and ovate; staminodes 8(--16) ; ovary glabrous or pubescent. Fruiting calyx 3--4 cm in diam. Berries yellow to orange, flattened globose to ovoid but usually globose, 2--8.5 cm in diam., 8-locular, glabrescent. Seeds dark brown, 13--16 X 7.5--9 X 4--5 mm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Sep-Oct. [source]

Habit: Deciduous.

Flowers: Bloom Period: March. • Flower Color: cream, inconspicuous, none, pale pink, tan

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 20-30' tall.

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,952 meters (0 to 6,404 feet).[3]

Biology

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Growth

Culture: Space 20-30' apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Diospyros discolor Willd. • Diospyros philippensis (Desr.) Guerke

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Diospyros

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 58 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

D. angulata (Bois D') · D. australis (Black-Plum) · D. blancoi (Mabolo) · D. boutoniana (Bois D') · D. celebica (Indonesian Ebony) · D. chrysophyllos (Bois D') · D. crassiflora (Ebony) · D. decandra (Gold Apple) · D. digyna (Axle Grease Plant) · D. ebenum (Indian Ebony) · D. egrettarum (Bois D') · D. hemiteles (Bois D') · D. hillebrandii (Elama) · D. kaki (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Hachiya' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Fuyu' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Ichikikei Jiro' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Jiro' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Kostata' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Maekawa Jiro' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Matsumoto Wase Fuyu' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Saijo' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Sheng' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Tamopan' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. kaki 'Tanenashi' (Japanese Persimmon) · D. leucomelas (Bois D') · D. lotus (Date Plum) · D. lycioides (Karroo Bluebush) · D. macassar (Macassar Ebony) · D. malabarica (Indian Persimmon) · D. marmorata (Andaman Marblewood) · D. melanida (Bois D') · D. mun (Ebony) · D. neraudii (Bois D') · D. nitida (Black Persimmon) · D. nodosa (Bois D') · D. oleifera (Oil Persimmon) · D. pterocalyx (Bois D') · D. revaughanii (Bois D') · D. revoluta (Black Apple) · D. rhombifolia (Diamond-Leaf Persimmon) · D. rumphii (Streaked Ebony) · D. sandwicensis (Lama) · D. sinensis (Chinese Persimmon) · D. sintenisii (Chinese Persimmon) · D. tessellaria (Black Ebony) · D. texana (Texas Persimmon) · D. tomentosa (Nepal Ebony) · D. vaccinioides (Small Persimmon) · D. virginiana (American Persimmon) · D. virginiana 'Campbell Nc10' (American Persimmon) · D. virginiana 'John Rick' (American Persimmon) · D. virginiana 'Meader' (American Persimmon) · D. virginiana 'Peiper' (American Persimmon) · D. virginiana 'Prok' (American Persimmon) · D. virginiana 'Ruby' (American Persimmon) · D. virginiana 'Szukis' (American Persimmon) · D. virginiana 'Yates' (American Persimmon)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 23, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Shugang Li, Michael G. Gilbert & Frank White "Ebenaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 215. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Diospyros". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 215. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 702.060 meters (2,303.346 feet), Standard Deviation = 727.380 based on 16 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012