American Persimmon Tree

The American Persimmon Tree Produces Golf Ball Sized Fruit Every Fall

A native fruit tree with a rich, caramel-honey flavor

• Golf-Ball Sized Fruit: Orange persimmons ripen to soft, rich flesh in fall
• Extreme Cold Hardiness: Will tolerate tough winters down to minus 25 degrees
• Doubles As a Shade Tree: Matures to 30-50 ft. tall and a 20-25 ft. spread for a cooling shade canopy
• Deer Love Them: One of our top picks for attracting wildlife including deer and birds
• Superior Flavor: Honey-sweet taste excellent for fresh eating, baking, & jams
• Wide Range: The 'Common Persimmon' can grow as far north as zone 4, with a full range of growing zones 4-9

There's something deeply satisfying about a tree that feeds you, the wildlife around you, and looks beautiful doing both. The American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is exactly that kind of plant. 

Also known as the "Common Persimmon", This fruit tree is native to North America and deeply at home across a wide range of growing conditions. It is an astringent variety and produces sweet, bright orange fruit each fall that's delicious when fully ripe. The foliage transitions from deep green through summer to warm oranges and yellows as temperatures drop in fall, and once the leaves are down, attractive gray-brown bark carries the tree's visual interest through winter.

Why You'll Love the American Persimmon Tree

Native, Adaptable, and Built to Last. As a native North American Tree, the American Persimmon is naturally suited to the conditions, wildlife, and seasonal rhythms of the landscapes it grows in.

Sweet Fall Fruit: Their fruit ripens in fall to a soft, intensely sweet flesh that's a tasty surprise to anyone who's never tasted a fully ripe one. The fruit is smaller than Asian persimmon varieties, roughly the size of a golf-ball. Eat them fresh off the tree, bake them into breads and puddings, cook them down into jams and jellies, or dry them for later use. Like all astringent persimmons, patience is required — unripe fruit is firm and puckering, but fully ripe fruit is something else entirely.

Spectacular Seasonal Color. The American Persimmon is one of the more under appreciated ornamental native trees available. The dark green summer foliage transitions to rich shades of orange and yellow as fall arrives, providing a color display that rivals dedicated ornamental trees. 

A Wildlife Hub Through the Seasons. Deer, birds, squirrels, and a wide range of other wildlife actively seek out American Persimmon fruit, making this tree an important food source for the broader ecosystem around it. For gardeners who value wildlife habitat as part of their landscape philosophy, few native fruit trees contribute as meaningfully or as reliably through the fall and winter months.

How to Care For Your American Persimmon Tree

This is a long-lived, largely self-sufficient native tree that gets better and more productive with every passing year.

• Sunlight: Plant in full sun for best fruit production and fall color.
• Soil: Prefers moist, well-drained soil but adapts to clay, loam, and sandy soils with a broad pH range of approximately 4.0–7.0
• Watering: Water deeply through the first growing season to establish a strong, deep root system. Once settled in, the tree becomes drought tolerant and largely self-sufficient.
• Pruning: As needed to maintain the shape and size that suits your landscape; no heavy or technically demanding pruning program is required.

Why Persimmon Gardeners Trust Perfect Plants Nursery

When you buy your fruit trees online make sure you’re buying directly from the grower themselves. At Perfect Plants we are part of the process every step of the way from caring to boxing for delivery. We've been a family fun farm since 1980, and we put our 45+ years of gardening experience into every plant we deliver. Our American Persimmon trees are not ship bare root. It is rooted in its nursery container in soil!

Shop American Persimmon Trees for sale today. To see a broader selection, check out all our fruit & nut trees for sale.