Texas Persimmon Survival Food
The Texas Persimmon aka Mexican Persimmon (Diospyros texana) as you can tell from the name related to the other persimmons found around the world and it makes an edible fruit that is similar. It has a restricted home range that covers an area just north and west of Houston, Texas westward Fort Stockton and southward from there down a good way into Mexico.
This tree is easy to identify. It has smooth wood on its branches which are light in color. The leaves are basically oval in shape coming to a point at the base, but rounded at the tips. The under surface of the leaves have fine hairs.
This small tree produces a green persimmon fruit that turns black when it is ripe. You will likely find trees with both green and black fruits at the same time during the summer and later only the black ripe ones will be present.
The fruit which can get up to and inch in diameter will contain up to eight triangular seeds. It is green at first, turning black when ripe.
You can eat the fruits raw when ripe or you can also make them into a wine or a jam. When eating raw avoid the skin as it will be quite bitter. So these fruits are a welcome find if you are looking for food on a late hot summer day. Be aware that there are both male and female plants, so not all trees will produce fruit.
This tree is easy to identify. It has smooth wood on its branches which are light in color. The leaves are basically oval in shape coming to a point at the base, but rounded at the tips. The under surface of the leaves have fine hairs.
This small tree produces a green persimmon fruit that turns black when it is ripe. You will likely find trees with both green and black fruits at the same time during the summer and later only the black ripe ones will be present.
The fruit which can get up to and inch in diameter will contain up to eight triangular seeds. It is green at first, turning black when ripe.
You can eat the fruits raw when ripe or you can also make them into a wine or a jam. When eating raw avoid the skin as it will be quite bitter. So these fruits are a welcome find if you are looking for food on a late hot summer day. Be aware that there are both male and female plants, so not all trees will produce fruit.
