All plants /Tree /Texas Persimmon
Texas Persimmon
Diospyros texana, ebony family. Common in Central and West Texas.
At a glance
- What
- Small black fruit, dead ripe only
- How
- Raw, or pulped for puddings and quick breads
- When
- August and September
- Where
- Rocky Hill Country slopes; smooth gray peeling bark
- Value
- Sugars, fiber
Caution: Underripe fruit is an astringent ambush that dries your whole mouth; wait until the fruit is black, soft, and practically falling. The big seeds want a food mill.
Harvesting
Shake a branch over a sheet and take only what falls. If it resists, it is not ready, and it will punish you for rushing.
In the kitchen
Ripe pulp tastes of dates and molasses. Run fruit through a food mill to shed the seeds, then bake it into breads or freeze it flat.
Photo: Wyatt915, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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.