Common persimmon (
Diospyros virginiana) is a slow-growing, thicket-forming, small to medium, deciduous tree that produces persimmon fruits. Common persimmon grows on a wide variety of sites but grows best on terraces of large streams and river bottoms.
Persimmon Toxic Components
Persimmons contain tannic acids, which vary in their concentration depending on the season, stage of development, and fruit maturation. Highest levels of tannic acid occur in the fall, as the temperature begins to decrease.
What Persimmons Look Like
Persimmons are egg-shaped fruit with a rounded or pointed apex and tough skin that is initially green which turns purplish black, light yellow-orange, or dark red-orange as it matures. The ingestion of unripened persimmon fruits can cause equine gastric impaction, ulceration and perforation, referred to as
persimmon phytobezoar.
