Have you noticed piles of small white flowers on the ground? These are American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) flowers.
Persimmon trees are dioecious, which means they have separate male and female trees. If you want to have persimmon fruit, you need to have both kinds of trees.
You can tell the difference between the trees in the spring by looking at the flowers. The female flowers are larger than the male flowers. The male flowers grow in groups, while the female flowers are solitary. The green bracts behind the female flowers are larger than the bracts behind the male flowers.
Here is a side by side comparison of the two flowers.
In the fall, you’ll find the persimmon fruit on the female trees. Persimmon tastes best to humans when it is very ripe. The animals tend to eat the fruit before it is ripe enough for people to eat.
Have you seen persimmon trees?