Plant · P-506

Black Sapote

Diospyros nigra

Black Sapote is a tropical relative of the American persimmon, grown for the soft, dark brown flesh of its ripe fruit, eaten raw with a spoon or blended into smoothies once it turns mildly sweet. Trees are usually male or female rather than both, so seedlings are a gamble and grafted stock of known sex is the reliable way to get fruit. It has almost no cold tolerance - even a light frost near 28 to 30 F can kill a mature tree. The unripe green fruit is toxic enough to stun fish, so windfalls should never reach poultry or livestock.