Diospyros Rhombifolia (Princess Persimmon) 老鴉柿（ロウヤガキ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are the fruits of diospyros rhombifolia or commonly known as princess persimmon at the Koishikawa Botanical Garden in Tokyo. A few days ago, I wrote about diospyros cathayensis Steward (cathay persimmon). Both trees were side by side and the fruits resemble each other, so without the plant labels, I would have thought they were the same tiny persimmons. But there's an obvious difference between the two, which I couldn't see at that time. Princess persimmon is deciduous while cathay persimmon is evergreen. (Take a look at the second picture!)

The garden, about 40 acres in Central Tokyo, was opened by the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th century to grow medicinal herbs. In 1877, after the Meiji Restoration, it became a part of Tokyo Imperial University and currently the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Science. The admission fee is JPY500 (i.e., about USD4.5) for adults.

Diospyros rhombifolia 老鴉柿（ロウヤガキ）

Deciduous diospyros rhombifolia (left) and evergreen diospyros cathayensis
落葉樹の老鴉柿（左）と常緑樹の四川常盤柿

Princess persimmon is deciduous ロウヤガキは落葉樹

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小石川植物園の老鴉柿（ロウヤガキ）です。先日、四川常盤柿（シセントキワガキ）について書きました。二つの柿の木は並んでいて両方とも実はちっちゃく、名札がなければ異なる種類だとは思わなかったでしょう。でも明らかな違いがあるんです。分かりますか？

老鴉柿は落葉樹、四川常盤柿は常緑樹です。（2枚目をご覧あれ！）ちなみに老鴉柿は英語で「princess persimmon」とも呼ばれているようです。可愛いですね。

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