Persimmon - American persimmon

Diospyros virginiana - American Persimmon, Common Persimmon

In the early 19th century, the American persimmon intrigued European botanists with its golden fruits and unique biology: only half of the trees bear fruit, with the other half contributing to their fertilization.

Poiteau meticulously observed this American tree, 5 to 8 meters tall, with a rounded silhouette and flexible branches, whose vermilion-yellow fruits, sometimes washed with bright red, are eaten after the first frosts.

In France, this botanical curiosity remains more an object of study than a table fruit, but it fascinates with its natural elegance.

The American persimmon is distinguished by its alternate, oblong leaves, a cheerful light green on the surface, slightly glaucous and hairy on the underside.

Its yellowish, discreet flowers give rise to rounded fruits about 27 millimeters in diameter, supported by a calyx that has become leathery.

The yellow flesh, soft and viscous, has a slightly acerbic sweetness that mellows to full maturity. Americans make cider from it and prepare astringent patties after crushing the pulp and separating the four to eight compressed seeds found in each fruit.

Picked at the end of October, the persimmon ripens on straw like the medlar, with the advantage of preserving for a long time without spoiling.

This plate is taken from the Traité des Arbres Fruitiers by Pierre-Antoine Poiteau and Pierre Jean François Turpin, a botanical encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, a major reference in 19th-century naturalist illustration.

It combines the rigor of scientific drawing with a rare artistic sensibility, characteristic of the great plates from the golden age of illustrated botany.