Do Japanese Persimmons Have Male and Female Plants? The Latest Answer Is Here

The Japanese persimmon (Diospyros rhombifolia) is one of the best tree species for making fruit-viewing bonsai, especially when it is shaped into an old-trunk fruit-viewing bonsai, which makes it even more ornamental. But everyone knows that many flowering and fruiting plants have male and female plants, and usually a male tree will not bear fruit after planting; only after a female tree blooms and is successfully pollinated can it bear fruit.

In fact, the Japanese persimmon, this deciduous small tree, is also divided into male and female, and this situation is usually called dioecy. But this situation is not absolute either. Although the Japanese persimmon is dioecious in most cases, occasionally a monoecious phenomenon may also be encountered, only this situation is very hard to come across.

If it is monoecious, then generally after flowering it can self-pollinate and successfully set fruit. And if it is dioecious, it is often necessary to let male flowers pollinate female flowers, and only then can it bear fruit. The same is true for the Japanese persimmon. Although a male tree only blooms and does not bear fruit, we can use grafting methods to graft female branches onto a male tree, and it can likewise achieve flowering and fruiting.

Grafting methods are relatively common in the cultivation and care of the Japanese persimmon. After all, it is usually dioecious, and by grafting branches of a female tree onto a male tree, it can both bloom and bear fruit, thereby making it easier to produce a beautiful fruit-viewing bonsai. For the dioecious Japanese persimmon, it is often necessary to use male flowers to pollinate female flowers before it can bear fruit.

But there is also one exception: the Japanese persimmon may also show self-fruiting, only this situation is very rare. And for a Japanese persimmon that has not been pollinated by stamens to pistils, even if it bears fruit, the fruit is usually rather slender and long, and the fruit contains no seeds, so it cannot be propagated by sowing.

In addition, the male and female of the Japanese persimmon are also relatively easy to distinguish. We only need to observe the flowering state during the flowering period to identify them well. If it is a male Japanese persimmon tree, there are no calyx lobes on the receptacle when it blooms; if it is a female Japanese persimmon tree, there are quite a few calyx lobes on the receptacle surrounding the flower when it blooms.