All plants /Tree /American Persimmon
American Persimmon
Diospyros virginiana, ebony family. Common in East and Central Texas.
At a glance
- What
- Orange fruit, dead ripe only
- How
- Raw, pudding, dried into fruit leather
- When
- After first frosts, September to November
- Where
- East Texas woods and old fields
- Value
- Sugars, vitamin C, fiber
Caution: Underripe fruit is mouth-puckeringly astringent. Take only fruit that is soft, wrinkled, and falling on its own. Never eat a wild plant on this guide's word alone. Confirm identity against several sources and learn the look-alikes first.
Harvesting
Patience is the whole skill. A persimmon that fights you off the branch will dry your mouth to felt; one that drops into your palm tastes of dates and honey. Gather from the ground after a frost.
In the kitchen
Run ripe fruit through a food mill to lose the seeds, then bake the pulp into puddings and quick breads or spread it thin and dry it into leather.
Photo: Gaiacoyote, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Forages well with
Forage safely. Never eat a wild plant on this site's word alone. Confirm identity with several sources, learn the look-alikes, and when in doubt, leave it in the ground.