What it is
Texas Persimmon (Diospyros texana) is in the Ebenaceae (Ebony) family. A sculptural little native tree with peeling silver bark and sweet black fruit - built for Texas heat, caliche, and neglect.
How to grow it
It wants full sun to part shade, water it very low - drought-proof once established, and give it rocky, alkaline-tolerant soil. Target a soil pH around 6.5-8.0. Space plants about 10-15 ft apart. Expect roughly Fruit in 4-6 years. Hardy native.
How it's used
Texas Persimmon is used: fresh ripe fruit, jam.
🔎 How to identify it
- Smooth gray bark peeling to reveal white/pink underbark
- Small leathery leaves, fuzzy underneath
- Black 1-inch fruit on female trees only
Edibility
How to grow & propagate texas persimmon
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate texas persimmon
Native persimmon grows from seed (cold-stratified over winter) but seedlings are variable, so named varieties are grafted. Established trees also throw up root suckers you can dig and transplant. You'll need a male and a female tree for fruit.
Growing texas persimmon in Texas
Give it full sun to part shade and rocky, alkaline-tolerant soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
Because it's a perennial, the work is mostly up front. Get it sited and established and it comes back on its own year after year — one of the best returns on effort in the whole garden.
Once it's rooted in, this is a low-water plant — overwatering does more harm than drought here. Water deeply to establish, then back off and let it prove how tough it is.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly fruit in 4-6 years before you're harvesting. The part you're after: fully ripe black fruit.
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.