Diospyros kaki Diospyros kaki Diospyros kaki, also called persimmon, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus "Diospyros". Although its first published botanical description was not until 1780, the "kaki" is among the oldest plants in cultivation, known for its use in China for more than 2000 years. In some rural Chinese communities, the "kaki" fruit is seen as having a great mystical power that can be harnessed to solve headaches, back pains and foot ache. The persimmon ("kaki") is a sweet, slightly tangy fruit with a soft to occasionally fibrous texture. This species, native to China, is deciduous, with broad,
Black pepper pepper (the tongue-numbing dried fruit of an unrelated plant). Marco Polo testifies to pepper's popularity in 13th-century China, when he relates what he is told of its consumption in the city of Kinsay (Hangzhou): "... Messer Marco heard it stated by one of the Great Kaan's officers of customs that the quantity of pepper introduced daily for consumption into the city of Kinsay amounted to 43 loads, each load being equal to 223 lbs." Marco Polo is not considered a very reliable source regarding China, and these second-hand data may be even more suspect, but if this estimated a day