| Diospyros vaccinioides | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ebenaceae |
| Genus: | Diospyros |
| Species: | D. vaccinioides |
| Binomial name | |
| Diospyros vaccinioides Lindl. | |
Diospyros vaccinioides, the small persimmon, is a herbaceous plant, a member of the Ebenaceae family. This plant is mainly found in China and it is known to thrive in subtropical biomes. [1]
It is a shrub with small, glossy, round leaves; it has small, white, bell-shaped flowers, and purple fruit. [2] It has veins that are arranged in a pinnate pattern. The plant has a slow growth rate and ranges in size from a shrub to a small tree, It is mainly used for ornamental value which has classified it as endangered. [3] It is an evergreen which indicates that the leaves are thick and leathery. The leaves can stay on the tree for around 2 or more years and fall at any season. The foliage remains green and is functional for more than one growing season. This plant flowers in the spring and produces fruit, a small persimmon, in the fall and winter seasons. [4] The fruit produced by this plant, small persimmons, are classified as berries. [5]
It is an endemic species to Taiwan. [6] It is also native to China, specifically the Guangdong province, Hongkong, and Hainan. This plant is found in a subtropical biome which consists of high temperatures, low precipitation, and warm soil. Due to its affinity for these conditions, the plant has full sun exposure from a young age and a small amount of shade in all climates which means it requires a high amount of water. [3] It has no frost tolerance and high tolerance to wind. [3]
It was named by John Lindley, in Exot. Fl. 2: t. 139. in 1825. [6]
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit. The antonym of deciduous in the botanical sense is evergreen.
The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros. The most widely cultivated of these is the kaki persimmon, Diospyros kaki – Diospyros is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-persimmon species of the genus are grown for ebony timber. In 2019, China produced 75% of the world total of persimmons.
The Ebenaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to order Ericales. The family includes ebony and persimmon among about 768 species of trees and shrubs. It is distributed across the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It is most diverse in the rainforests of Malesia, India, tropical Africa and tropical America.
The loquat is a large evergreen shrub or tree grown commercially for its orange fruit and for its leaves, which are used to make herbal tea. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant.
Diospyros is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark timber, are commonly known as ebony trees, while others are valued for their fruit and known as persimmon trees. Some are useful as ornamentals and many are of local ecological importance. Species of this genus are generally dioecious, with separate male and female plants.
Diospyros virginiana is a persimmon species commonly called the American persimmon, common persimmon, eastern persimmon, simmon, possumwood, possum apples, or sugar plum. It ranges from southern Connecticut to Florida, and west to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa. The tree grows wild but has been cultivated for its fruit and wood since prehistoric times by Native Americans.
Diospyros lotus, with common names date-plum,Caucasian persimmon, or lilac persimmon, is a widely cultivated species of the genus Diospyros, native to subtropical southwest Asia and southeast Europe. Its English name derives from the small fruit, which have a taste reminiscent of both plums and dates. It is among the oldest plants in cultivation.
Diospyros mespiliformis, the jackalberry, is a large dioecious evergreen tree found mostly in the savannas of Africa. Jackals are fond of the fruit, hence the common names. It is a member of the family Ebenaceae, and is related to the true ebony and edible persimmon.
Diospyros nigra, the black sapote, is a species of persimmon. Common names include chocolate pudding fruit, black soapapple and zapote prieto. The tropical fruit tree is native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. The common name sapote refers to any soft, edible fruit. Black sapote is not related to white sapote nor mamey sapote. The genus Diospyros has numerous other fruit bearing tree species in addition to the persimmons and black sapote.
Diospyros kaki, the Oriental persimmon, Chinese persimmon, Japanese persimmon or kaki persimmon, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Diospyros. Although its first botanical description was not published until 1780, D. kaki is among the oldest cultivated plants, having been in use in China for more than 2000 years.
Diospyros blancoi,, commonly known as velvet apple, velvet persimmon, kamagong, or mabolo tree, is a tree of the genus Diospyros of ebony trees and persimmons. It produces edible fruit with a fine, velvety, reddish-brown fur-like covering. The fruit has a soft, creamy, pink flesh, with a taste and aroma comparable to peaches.
Murraya paniculata, commonly known as orange jasmine, orange jessamine, china box or mock orange, is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Rutaceae and is native to South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia. It has smooth bark, pinnate leaves with up to seven egg-shaped to elliptical leaflets, fragrant white or cream-coloured flowers and oval, orange-red berries containing hairy seeds.
Diospyros pentamera is a common rainforest tree in the Ebony or Persimmon family (Ebenaceae) growing from near Batemans Bay in New South Wales to the Atherton Tableland in tropical Queensland, Australia. It is commonly known as the myrtle ebony, black myrtle, grey plum or grey persimmon.
Diospyros australis is the most southerly of the group of some 450 ebonies and persimmons. It is a shrub or small tree growing in rainforests of seaward eastern Australia. The habitat is in a variety of different rainforest forms, though not often seen in the cool temperate rainforests. The range of natural distribution is from Durras Lake near Batemans Bay in south east New South Wales, to Atherton in tropical Queensland.
Diospyros texana is a species of persimmon that is native to central, south and west Texas and southwest Oklahoma in the United States, and eastern Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Common names include Texas persimmon, Mexican persimmon and the more ambiguous "black persimmon". It is known in Spanish as chapote, chapote manzano, or chapote prieto, all of which are derived from the Nahuatl word tzapotl. That word also refers to several other fruit-bearing trees.
Diospyros malabarica, the gaub tree, Malabar ebony, black-and-white ebony or pale moon ebony, is a species of flowering tree in the family Ebenaceae that is native to the Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia.
Diospyros squarrosa, the rigid star-berry, is a dioecious, deciduous shrub or small tree that is native to the tropical and subtropical Afrotropics. Its wood and edible, fleshy fruit are harvested locally.
Diospyros rhombifolia, the diamond-leaf persimmon or princess persimmon, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ebenaceae, native to southeast China. A shrub or tree reaching 8 m (26 ft), and hardy to USDA zone 7b, it is widely cultivated as an ornamental for its small leaves and attractive orange fruit.
