The problem of these hybridizations is multiple.
First of all the size of the pollen and the shape and size of the receptors. This is the first step before genetic problems.
But for those who recall children’s games where you have to put the square shapes in the square holes, the balls in the round shapes… we see that with a slight difference in size, our child managed to make a triangle fit into a square.
It is the same for pollen.
Then if the fertilization this product, and it is viable (because many seedlings will lack food reserves, others will be albino…etc).
The last step will be genetics. Because if a pair of chromosomes is missing, the hybrid will live but will be sterile. The doubling of the genetic material makes it possible to make the hybrids fertile. This is what has been done for cereals, for example Titical, but also for hybrid wheat, which today finds a number of chromosomes disproportionate to the original varieties.
I remember Cliff at England’s Orchard and Nursery told me he had lotus fruit that tasted like “chocolate candies”. Maybe with his heat and humidity? My lotus always dies to the ground each winter.
Cliff England told me several years ago he had 2 russian created lotus hybrids; ‘Dvorsky’ which has male flowers that bear fruit, and ‘Cavkas’. I don’t know what the other parent/s? is.
I had Kaukaz in my collection but it was worthless…just a pollinator. It is predominantly male but also sets a few female flowers. I do not believe that Kaukaz is a lotus/kaki hybrid. It looks 100% like pure kaki. No lotus features at all. I topgrafted the tree with another variety this spring.
Bozhiy Dar (God’s gift) is a monoecious hybrid. It has small fruit that ripens rather late and needs a lot of sun and heat to develop sugar. It will taste rather bland in a cool climate. I presume it is very hardy because it’s appearance is more towards American persimmon than Asian persimmon. I’m not a fan…
Hiratanenashi is one of the most famous and most planted Japanese persimmons. It has rather suarish fruit that can be extremely juicy. It is usually seedless because it is a triploïd variety although I do find the occasional seed in a fruit. It is one of the most hardy Asian persimmons but it needs a lot of heat hours and sun to develop sugar, otherwise it will taste rather bland and mealy, not juicy. There are a few early ripening mutations of the original Hiratanenashi. “Tone Wase” is the earliest one and it is widely grown for its early fruit also in commercialy:in Spain for example.
The species is dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). . The plant is not self-fertile.
@Richard Are you familiar with the pollination of these things?
Without knowledge specifically of this species, I THINK it’s similar to D virginiana where a tree can throw male and female flowers but it’s generally understood that that tree won’t pollinate itself to make viable seed, but could pollinate another? Someone correct me if I’m wrong…
It looks like there are male and female trees, but both throw male and female flowers. I was reading that both fruit, but the female trees produce superior fruit to the male tress. But I could have misunderstood.