Persimmon fruits are ripening this time of year in northwest Louisiana. These are orange, round fruits that should only be eaten when perfectly ripe. Any attempt to eat an unripe persimmon fruit will have bad results: a bitter, chalky, astringent taste will pervade your entire mouth. You know these fruits are ripe when the orange flesh is soft and wrinkly. Such wrinkled fruits are mostly found on the ground, and they taste like candy. Look around and you'll find one.
There are two persimmon trees in the arboretum, planted next to each other. Read more about the pair
here.
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| The female persimmon tree is loaded with fruits. This is a very tall tree with most of its fruits out of reach. Low hanging fruits can be found, but unripe fruits are difficult to strip off the branch without damaging the tree: you will need to snip unripe fruits off the branch and give them plenty of time to ripen. |
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| This unripe fruit is turning orange. |
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| These orange fruits are still ripening. They are firm to the touch and securely attached to the branch. They might look tasty, but they aren't. |
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| These fruits, found in the leaf litter, are ready to eat. Another indicator of ripeness is the ease with which the fruit detaches from its four-lobed cap. |
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| The flesh is very sweet and has a distinct taste. Unfortunately, the seeds are large and numerous, making it impossible to remain elegant while enjoying the fruit. Even-numbered amounts of seeds were encountered from the arboretum's fruit, six or eight per fruit. |
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| The seeds are dark brown, glossy, oval-shaped and measure more than a half inch in length. |
