PERSIMMON, the name given to the fruits of Diospyros virgiηiaηa in the United States. The tree which bears them belongs to the order Ebenaceae, and has oval entire leaves, and monoecious flowers on short stalks. In the male flowers, which are numerous, the stamens are sixteen in number, arranged in pairs, and with the anthers opening by slits. The female flowers are solitary, with traces of stamens, and have a glabrous ovary with one ovule in each of the eight cells,—the ovary being surmounted by four styles, which are hairy at the base. The fruit-stalk is very short, bearing a subglobose fruit an inch or rather more in diameter, of an orange-yellow colour, and with a sweetish astringent pulp. It is surrounded at the base by the persistent calyx-lobes, which increase in size as the fruit ripens. The astringency renders the fruit somewhat unpalatable, but, after it has been subjected to the action of frost, or has become partially rotted or “bletted” like a medlar, its flavour is improved. In some of the southern States the fruit is said to be kneaded with bran, made into cakes, and baked. From the cakes a fermented liquor is made with the aid of yeast. The tree is cultivated in England, but rarely if ever ripens its fruit, and in the States it is said not to ripen north of New Jersey....