date-plum

Photo: Σ64 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Survives zone 6 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Diospyros lotus produces small, cherry-sized fruit (about 1.5-2 cm) that starts yellow and ripens to blue-black with a waxy bloom — harsh and astringent until fully soft, at which point it turns rich and very sweet; dried fruit develops a date-like flavor, the source of the common name "date-plum".

Hardiness

Zone 6–9

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Oct–Nov (astringent types improve after frost)

Mature size

Tree 10–20 m, occasionally to 30 m

Light

Full sun to partial

Soil pH

6.0–7.5

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Native from northeastern and south-central Türkiye through the Caucasus and Central Asia to Korea and China, growing in mixed mountain forests up to about 1,500 m; naturalized in parts of the Mediterranean including Albania, Greece, Italy and Spain.

Status

Rootstock

Years to fruit

3–5 yrs

Growth speed

Medium, reaching first fruiting in about 3-5 years and ultimately about 8-10 m tall by 6 m wide (taller in favorable native habitat).

Spacing

600 cm (236 in) apart — about 36 m² (388 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Glossy, leathery, elliptic to oval leaves 5-15 cm long and 3-6 cm wide, tapered at both ends with an entire margin — dark polished green above, paler and finely hairy beneath; foliage generally stays deep green rather than coloring before it drops.

Root system

A long taproot, making the tree difficult to transplant once established.

Fruit description

Small fruit about 1.5-2 cm across, resembling a large cherry — yellow when unripe, ripening to blue-black with a waxy bloom. Harsh and astringent until soft, then sweet and rich; when dried, the fruit acquires a date-like flavor.

Propagation

By seed — sown fresh in a cold frame, or stored seed cold-stratified and sown as early as possible, germinating in 1-6 months at 15°C; also by semi-ripe cuttings in July/August or spring layering. Also used as a rootstock species for grafting Diospyros kaki.

Pollination

Dioecious; female trees set seedless fruit parthenocarpically without a male present, though fruit from a pollinated flower is reportedly less astringent.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.