The lotus persimmon are taking over

[Richard]

Diospyrus lotus (Date Plum) as fruit

Roger Meyer of CRFG fame grew several Diospyros species at his farm in Valley Center, CA. Years ago I had a conversation with him about an ornamental species he grew for floral arrangements. He then told me about D. lotus – the common persimmon rootstock – being grown for fruit in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and eastern Turkey. He tipped me off that there were non-astringent cultivars and although he’d tried to import some it was never successful. I went about some research and eventually det…