I must confess that my main motivation at this point is to try to create a hybrid with D. nigra, if I can get that to grow in my greenhouse, which is on my to-do list for next year. They appear to have the same chromosome count, at least, and if texana won’t produce seeds without pollination, then I’d want to only offer it nigra pollen by hand and see what happens. Their natural ranges don’t quite meet, so there may not have been much of an opportunity for chance hybrids to be discovered in the wild even if they can readily hybridize, and I haven’t found any papers discussing anyone attempting to cross them.
Thank you @anon47724557, the box arrived today! Two of them were soft and black, so I got my first taste of this fruit. I have to say I didn’t detect any licorice/anise flavor at all, but it also was not very flavorful in any way. Mildly sweet, with a texture that strongly reminds me of D. nigra, but without the almost chocolatey flavor profile of that species. I can see how people might compare them, though, and I really hope I can get them to hybridize. Now I just need to find a good source of black sapote for my greenhouse next year!
One of them, but it tasted very sour and maybe wasn’t quite ripe so I’m leaving the others on the counter a little longer. Do they usually sweeten up ok?
I ate a third one (the only other one that’s soft), and decided to try to cut it carefully to show the fruit profile. Here’s a before and after that attempt:
There were a few spots that looked like they had seeds but actually had nicer chunks of flesh, but it did have 5 seeds in this small fruit. Here’s what I didn’t eat (the skin is very tough):
I’m tempted to taste some of the more firm ones since this has not even a hint of astringency. It’s a pleasant, slightly bland but creamy, mildly sweet taste. Very messy, though.
Since I’ve now got an overabundance of fresh seed, I’ll try germinating some immediately, and cold stratify the rest. I had already ordered a seed packet from an Etsy seller in McAllen, TX, and they look like they are in good shape, but dried out.
If my germination rate is anything better than abysmal I’ll probably have some extra seedlings next spring if anyone else wants them.
In case this is useful, some of the relevant results are:
Germination was >93% at constant temperatures of 20-30” C, but decreased abruptly or ceased outside this range.
The percentage of seeds that germinated in light did not differ from those germinated in darkness.
Seed germination ranged from 93 to 97% at pH values from 4 to 11.
Apparently, germination is dependent on high adequate water availability, indicating that seedling establishment is probably confined to periods of high soil moisture.
Germination after storage for 1,6, 12,15,18,21, and 24 months showed no changes in viability. Germination was >91% throughout the 2-year period. Apparently no dormancy or after-ripening requirements exist for this species.
Thank you! That’s very helpful, and good to know there’s no benefit in cold stratification, and that they last so long in storage. I’ll set aside a bunch of dried seeds for next year in case the first batch doesn’t do well in the greenhouse this winter.
They explicitly state in the paper that the seeds were collected fresh (other than the ones collected from coyote scat) and were stored in a dry state at “room conditions” of 20-27° and 50-70% relative humidity. Seed stored under those conditions had a pretty consistent 90+% germination rate at as little as 1 month and as long as 2 years. They also explicitly state this in the paper as one of their conclusions:
Apparently no dormancy or after-ripening requirements exist for this species.
Cold stratification is an “after-ripening requirement” for many species, but apparently not this one.
It’s interesting that they suggested such a high moisture level in the soil. when the wild ones are ripening and dropping fruit the native soil is much drier than that.
Presumably they sit in the dry soil for months or years until the next big rainfall, and that’s their germination trigger. In terms of the storage humidity, I don’t think they tried different levels and that was just the humidity range in their offices or wherever they stored them. I’m guessing they will store equally well at lower humidity levels, though since they didn’t test that I’m just going to keep them in a drawer in my house, which is usually in that range.
So far zero germination from the seeds removed from fresh fruit and planted immediately. But the other seeds I had purchased from someone in McAllen, TX (which had been dried and stored for a few weeks, but not cold-stratified) are almost all beginning to germinate:
I dont think that persimmon seeds need any special treatment to germinate… just treat them like nature does and they will do just fine.
I took seeds from american persimmons that i ate last fall… and planted 3 seeds in a planter filled with a mix of garden soil and compost… and set that planter in the edge of my woods.
I did mulch it good with some fine pine bark mulch… and just let them be all fall winter spring… and all 3 sprouted up this spring.
What you’re describing is cold stratification. Will American persimmon seeds also germinate immediately if you try, or do they need the winter outside (or artificial cold stratification in a fridge) first?
This was my first attempt at starting persimmon seeds… and I really did not even think about doing anything special.
Just planted them in the fall and they all came up in the spring. Just like it normally happens in nature.
I did not water them… they got rain and snow.
I did plant them about 1.5 inch deep in a compost layer and then covered with a couple inches of mulch. That is probably a lot better than most successfully sprouted wild tree seeds were planted.
That’s what I did with the Texas persimmon seeds I got last fall, but I had 0% germinate. The previous fall (first attempt) were the seeds that produced the seedling in my earlier posts that is definitely not texana, so my success after cold stratification isn’t indicative.
In that study linked above, Texas persimmon had very low germination in even slightly cooler soil. That’s probably why its native range doesn’t extend much further than Texas.
Coons and possums eat them and deposit seeds all over my fields and many of those evidently germinate and thrive… my fields are full persimmon seedlings.
