Diospyros virginiana In respect to the power of making heartwood, the persimmon rarely develops any heartwood until it is nearly one hundred years old. This heartwood is extremely close-grained and almost black, resembling ebony (of which it is a true variety). It is a common misconception persimmon fruit needs frost to ripen and soften, called bletting. Some, such as the early-ripening varieties "pieper" and "NC21"(also known as "supersweet"), easily lose astringency and become completely free of it when slightly soft at the touch—these are then very sweet, even in the British climate. On the other hand, some varieties (like the very large
Lissocarpa Lissocarpa Lissocarpa is a genus of flowering plants, described as a genus in 1876. It is classified as belonging to the family Ebenaceae, the ebony and diospyros family. It includes only a few species of small evergreen trees and shrubs species native to tropical South America. "Lissocarpa" species share various characters with other members of Ebenaceae, e.g., the black color of roots and bark, extrafloral nectaries on abaxial leaf surfaces, a persistent calyx, unisexual flowers, biovulate carpels with pendulous ovules, and a similar wood anatomy producing a hard, dark heartwood timber similar to ebony. They are slow-growing trees found on