Janet Macunovich 32 Report post Posted June 18, 2016 We've been asked: Are persimmons related to any other fruit tree they will cross pollinate with?Thanks, Larry We know there is an Asian counterpart to Diospyros virginiana, (D. Kaki, aka D. chinensis, Japanese date plum) and since various catalogs list a hybrid available, North America's persimmon must be able to cross with Asian persimmon, anyway. There's a tropical Diospyros, too... But most of tthe rest of the clan (200, 700 species, depending on who you read) are ornamentals, not grown for fruit. Sorry, I don't know if there are any tricky points to making the cross happen -- some of the hybrids available to us, ornamental, agricultural, annual and perennial of all types, involve things like storing pollen until the seed parent flowers, backcrossing, treating seedlings with growth regulators... Add to that, that the whole Diospyros genus is essentially dioecious (separate male and female plants) and a cross to produce a fruit-bearer might be quite the endeavor. Crossing with other fruits such as apple or peach, that's way beyond my ken. Intergeneric crosses exist -- like orange with tangerine to net tangelo, or foxglove/Digitalis with Isoplexis to net x Digiplexis, i.e., two species within the same genus. But interfamilial crosses, probably not. Anyone have more info? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
