Diospyros virginiana

Common persimmon, possumwood

Family: Ebenaceae · Type: shrub

Common persimmon is a naturalized shrub found near watercourses, likely spreading from abandoned plantings. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces white to cream flowers in small clusters, with delicate urn-shaped blossoms. Growing up to 15 to 30 meters tall with a spreading habit, it develops a distinctive dark reddish-brown bark deeply furrowed with age. Its leaves are widely ovate to elliptic, measuring 6 to 15 centimeters long, with a slightly hairy or smooth undersurface. The fruit is a spherical to ovoid yellow, orange, or red drupe approximately 3 to 5 centimeters in diameter, containing reddish-brown to dark brown seeds.

Habitat: Near watercourses, probably spreading from abandoned plantings

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.