Who's Growing Improved American Persimmons? Suggestions welcome!

[jrd51]

Comparing American persimmons by specific traits

It seems to me like maybe the discussion of whether persimmons can be eaten before softening is looking at the question too black-and-white. I think there definitely are marginal differences in how soon persimmons lose their astringency, and I think those relative differences are nonetheless significant and valuable enough that it could make sense to want to make those relative differences a leading selection trait. Dax may have made the difference seem bigger and more black-and-white than it …

I’ve read a gazillion taste tests and I just haven’t walked away with the impression that Early Golden is always (or even often) the winner. Consider just one example above, where Early Golden is compared to many others.

I will concede that many well-liked varieties have Early Golden ancestry. Examples include H63A, I-94). No doubt Early Golden is an ideal persimmon parent – good quality fruit plus some male flowers. But I have to ask why Claypool would have crossed it so many times, testing the offspring, if EG was unequivocally the best. Anyway, that’s a moot point. The real point is that tests testers on this forum don’t seem to rank EG above numerous other names.