monkey plum

Photo: Franz Xaver — CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Survives zone 8 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 lycioides ("monkey plum" or bluebush) is a southern African shrub-to-small-tree grown mainly as a hardy, drought-tolerant garden and wildlife plant — its marble-sized berries ripen from red through reddish-brown to black with jelly-like, mildly sweet pulp that is eaten fresh or fermented into a traditional beer, quite unlike the large, soft-ripening fruit of the Asian and American persimmons.

Hardiness

Zone 8–9

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Oct–Nov (astringent types improve after frost)

Mature size

Shrub or small tree 1–7 m, usually multi-stemmed and suckering

Light

Full sun

Soil pH

6.0–7.5

Environment

Temperate

Native range

The most widely distributed Diospyros in southern Africa, occurring across central and southern Africa except the winter-rainfall Cape, parts of Botswana, and eastern Namibia — typically on rocky hillsides, well-drained soils, and stream banks.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

3–5 yrs

Growth speed

Variable — reported as slow to fast depending on climate and growing conditions.

Spacing

300 cm (118 in) apart — about 9 m² (97 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Blue-green leaves clustered spirally toward the ends of the branches; texture ranges from smooth to densely hairy depending on subspecies.

Root system

Deep and drought-hardy with suckering laterals — the plant builds a multi-stemmed clump and resprouts after fire or heavy browsing, which is how it persists on hard, seasonally dry African ground.

Fruit description

Deep-red, marble-sized berries maturing through reddish-brown to black, with jelly-like, mildly sweet flesh — eaten fresh by people and by wildlife such as birds, dassies and monkeys, or fermented into beer. Young fruit is covered in fine hairs that disappear as it ripens.

Propagation

Grown from seed, soaked in hot water overnight before sowing; cuttings are reported to be very difficult to root. Seedlings establish and grow quickly.

Pollination

Dioecious — only female plants bear fruit, so both a male and a female plant must be grown for fruit set.

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.