Persimmon

Color/Appearance: Very wide sapwood is a white to pale yellowish-brown. Color tends to darken with age. Very thin heartwood (usually less than 1″ wide) is dark brown to black, similar to ebony. (Persimmon is in the same genus—Diospyros—as true ebonies.)

Grain/Texture: Grain is straight, with a uniform medium-coarse texture.

Endgrain: Semi-ring-porous; medium-large earlywood pores sometimes form broken rows, latewood pores medium-small; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; growth rings usually distinct; rays not visible without lens; parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates, vasicentric, and banded (reticulate and marginal).

Rot Resistance: Being that nearly all of Persimmon is sapwood, it is rated as perishable and is susceptible to insect attack.

Workability: Overall workability is so-so. Persimmon generally responds well to hand tools, but can be difficult to plane and blunts cutting edges faster than expected. Turns and finishes well.

Odor: No characteristic odor.

Allergies/Toxicity: Persimmon has been reported to cause skin irritation. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

Pricing/Availability: Not commonly available in lumber form, Persimmon may occasionally be seen in smaller blocks or turning blanks. Expect prices to be high for a domestic species.

Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Common Uses: Turned objects, golf club heads, veneer, and other small specialty wood items.