The genus Diospyros contains about 400 species (including ebony) mostly native to the tropics (Madagascar, Africa and Malaysia), with two native to the United States. The name diospyros is derived from the Greek, for the god Zeus or Jupiter and grain, alluding to the edible fruit or “fruit of the gods.”

Diospyros kaki Oriental persimmon (Japan) (commercial fruits)

Diospyros texana black persimmon, chapote, common sweetleaf, Florida laurel,

horse sugar, Mexican persimmon, Spanish chapote, sweetleaf, Texas persimmon, yellow-wood

Diospyros virginiana* bara bara, boawood, butterwood, common persimmon, cylil date plum, date plum, eastern persimmon, echtes persimmon, Florida persimmon, plaqueminier, possumwood, seeded plum, simmon, Virginia date palm, winter plum

*commercial species

The following description is for common persimmon.

Distribution: North America, from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey west to Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas, south to Oklahoma and Texas, east to Florida including the Florida Keys.

The Tree: Persimmon trees are slow growing. They produce small white flowers shaped like lanterns or bells. The fruits are eaten by woodland animals and by people (after the first frost or the fruit puckers the lips). The tree attains a height of 80 ft (24 m) and a diameter of 2 ft (0.6 m). The bark develops thick square blocks, like alligator skin. Persimmon grows in disturbed areas and in deciduous woodlands in association with hickory, oak, sycamore, ma­ple, red cedar, tulip poplar and elm. It masts every 2 years.

General Wood Characteristics: The sapwood is white, darkening to a grayish brown, while the small heartwood is dark brown to black (like ebony) and streaked. The wood is uniform in texture, stiff, strong, heavy, hard, and is resilient to pressure. The wood has no characteristic odor or taste. It is semi-ring-porous. Persimmon is sometimes confused with hickory.

 

Mechanical propertiesa

 

aReference (59).

Drying and shrinkagea,b

Percentage of shrinkage (green to final moisture content)

Type of shrinkage        0% MC        6% MC 20% MC

Tangential        11.2        9.0        3.7

Radial        7.9        6.3        2.6

Volumetric        19.1        15.3        6.4

aPersimmon shrinks considerably and requires great care in seasoning to prevent checking.

bReferences: 0% MC, (98); 6% and 20% MC, (90).

Kiln drying schedulea

4/4, 5/4, 6/4        8/4        Golf club        Shuttles

Condition        stock        stock        heads

Standard        T6-C3        T3-C2        T3-C2        T3-B2

aReferences (6, 86).

Working Properties: Persimmon is hard to work with tools and it does not glue easily.

Durability: Persimmon heartwood is very resistant to decay, but the sapwood is nonresistant.

Preservation: No information available at this time.

Uses: Shuttles, spools, bobbins, billiard cues, parquet floors, turnery, golf club heads, shoe lasts, veneer and handles.

Toxicity: Heartwood may cause dermatitis (105).

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