Small tree, up to 15 m tall. Leaves elliptic or elliptic-ovate, 11-12 X5.3-6 cm, pubescent, acuminate; petiolate. Flowers pedicellate, pedicel 10-15 mm long. Male in 3-flowered cynics; female solitary and larger. Calyx segments oval or broadly lanceolate, pubescent. Corolla yellow-white, lobes rounded. Male flower: stamens 16-24, hairy. Female flower: staminodes 8-10; ovary 8-10-locular, style 4-parted, hairy. Berry globose, 3-7 cm. in diameter, orange to dark red, glossy and fleshy.

Fl. Per.: May. Fr. Per.: Sept.-Nov.

Type: Described from cultivated specimen originating from Japan.

Distribution: Introduced and cultivated throughout Eastern Asia. USSR, Japan and China.

The original habitat of the species is N. China, but it has long been introduced and cultivated elsewhere. The ‘persimmon’ or ‘kaki’ plum is cultivated in Pakistan for its edible fruit, although it is not particularly popular.