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Acta Hortic. 1195. ISHS 2018. DOI 10.17660/ActaHortic.2018.1195.4
Proc. VI Int. Symp. on Persimmon
Eds.: M.L. Badenes and M.M. Naval
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Persimmon collection in Nikita Botanical Gardens;
its history and practical use
S. Khokhlova and Y. Plugatar
Nikita Botanical Gardens, Yalta, Crimea, 298648, Russia.
Abstract
Thefirst(unsuccessful)introductionofpersimmoninNikitaBotanicalGardens
wasin1819.Later,in1901asmallplantationwasestablishedusingnurseryplantsof
10persimmoncultivarsfromFrance.Thisplantationwasthestartingpointfor
introductionofpersimmonintheCrimea.Thecollectionwasenrichedin1937,when
theDepartmentofSubtropicalCropswasfoundedatNikitaBotanicalGardens.Today
thecollectionconsistsof87cultivarsandgenotypesofthreebotanicalspecies:
Diospyros kakiThunb.,Diospyros virginianaL.,andDiospyros lotusL.Thebest
cultivarsofNikitaBotanicalGardenswereobtainedasaresultofinter-speciesand
intra-speciescrossing.Thedetailedstudyofthisgermplasmallowedustoclassifythe
persimmoncultivarsandselectthemostfavorableonesbytheirhorticultural
characteristics(productivity,fruitquality,andresistancetodiseases).Theevaluation
ofcultivarsuitabilityforenvironmentandmanagementstylesisdescribed.
Keywords: persimmon, cultivars, group, crop, fruit quality
HISTORYOFCULTIVATIONANDPERSIMMONPRODUCTIONINNIKITABOTANICAL
GARDENS
EarlyintroductionofpersimmoninNBG
Eastern (Japanese) persimmon (Diospyroskaki Thunb.), because of a variety of
economically valuable characteristics, has a special place among fruit crops due to its
valuable fruits, wide adaptation to a range of environments and ornamental value. The
essential factor promoting the expansion of this crop is the availability of genetic material,
the basis for the obtaining highly adapted cultivars to a variety of environments and growth
conditions (Bellini, 1982; Zaretsky, 1934; Zhukovsky, 1971).
At the end of 19
th century, Nikita Gardens and some grower-amateurs of the South
Coast of the Crimea received persimmon seedlings. Some 75-120 year old trees have
survived to the present day. They grow in Nikita, Yalta, Simeiz and Mukhalatka and one 95
year old tree can be found in Lower Park in Nikita Gardens (Pasenkov, 1973).
In 1901 the first small persimmon plantation in Nikita Gardens was established over
an area of 0.05 ha with trees imported from France (Kalayda, 1948). This plantation was the
beginning of persimmon culture in Crimea. The seeds of eastern persimmon were imported
for the first time in Nikita Gardens in 1819 (Kondaraky, 1872). A significant increase in
persimmon collection size occurred in 1937, when the Department of Subtropical Crops was
founded in Nikita Botanical Gardens. Cultivars ‘Tamopan’, ‘Tanenashy’, ‘Tsuru-Gaki’, ‘Ztngy-
Mary’, and ‘Fuyu’ were received in 1938 from the Sukhumi selection station of wet-
subtropical crops. In 1948, nine more cultivars were added. Four of them were quite new for
the Gardens (‘Jiro’, ‘Seedless’, ‘Yankin-Tsuru’, and ‘Aizumishiraru’). Plants of these cultivars
survive to the present day. Twelve cultivars more were introduced from Batumi Botanical
Gardens in 1951: ‘Saburosa’, ‘Opylitel I BBG’, ‘Mishirazu’, ‘Shogatsu-Gaki’, ‘Batumsky II’ (clone
‘Gosho-Gaki’), ‘Kiara Variruyuzhaya’, ‘Kiara Konstantnaya’, ‘Kuro-Kuma’, ‘20th Century’,
‘Adzhara’ (hybrid D.kaki × D.lotus). and ‘Virginskaya Krupnoplodnaya’. From Guadaut,
Georgia cutting of cultivars ‘Opylitel 5’, ‘Opylitel 10’, ‘Tamopan’ and ‘Kiara’ (not astringent)
aE-mail: ocean-10@mail.ru
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were received in 1952. Additional cultivars were imported for testing in 1952:
‘Lykopersikon’, ‘Giboshi’, ‘Tiedemon’, ‘Nashinatan’, ‘Professor Briozi’ (Opylitel), ‘Hyakum’,
‘Lokhoma-Kaki’, ‘Noissone’ and ‘Kiomobo’. Many of them were found to be synonymous with
cultivar ‘Hyakume’. Only three cultivars are unique: ‘Nitary’, ‘Professor Briozi’, (later renamed
‘Nikitskiy Opylitel’) and ‘Hyakume’. From 1965 to 2015 the collection regularly increased in
size with new cultivars from France, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, USA, and China.
Today the collection consists of 87 cultivars and forms belonging to three botanical
species: Diospyroskaki Thunb., Diospyrosvirginiana L., and Diospyroslotus L. (Khokhlov and
Kazas, 2012). The collections have been used to study genetic diversity of persimmon, to
classify the cultivars, to select the most valuable specimen according to certain economically
valuable characteristics (productivity, fruit quality, resistance to diseases) or their
combinations, and to estimate the adaptability of cultivars to growth conditions.
MATERIALSANDMETHODS
Research materials consist of the collection plantation of eastern persimmon
comprised of 86 persimmon cultivars. The collection is maintained at two locations, the
Prymorsky plot, and on terraces characterized by steep slopes, protection from prevailing
winds, mechanical soil composition and predecessors. The Primorsky plot is located 200 m
from the sea coast at an altitude of 20-40 m a.s.l., on gentle South-East exposure slope of 10-
20°. Predecessors are roses and vines. The soils are brown-gray, gray, slightly calcareous,
powerful, medium and heavy loamy, slightly and medium gravelly, trenching ones. The plot is
fully opened on the South; its West, North and North-East sides are protected by natural
forest and park plantations; its East side is surrounded by a rocky spur of Nikitskaya Yaila
covered by juniper forest. The Upper terrace of the Gardens is located 20-50 m north and 5-
10 m higher than the Primorsky plot on a rather steep slope (up to 30°) of South-East and
South exposure. It was formerly a mixed forest. The terrace soil is the same as for the
Primorsky plot, but it is shallow and has a larger content of skeletal particles (small and
crushed stones) in the profile.
For evaluation of comparative winter-resistance the quick method of direct artificial
freezing of some branches with generative and vegetative organs in refrigerators at different
temperatures (from -8° up to -25°C) has been used. The primary study was done using a
common method described by Medov and Ogoltsova (1999) and Eremeev (1976) with
modifications worked out in Nikita Botanical Gardens (Pasenkov, 1973).
RESULTSANDDISCUSSION
Today new highly productive, regular fruiting cultivars, best adapted to local growth
conditions are urgently needed for industrial plantations in the Crimea and Southern
regions of Russia. During recent years, new cultivars of persimmon, with characteristics
superior to the foreign introduced cultivars and the regionalized domestic ones, have been
developed at Nikita Botanical Gardens by intraspecific hybridization.
On the basis of a comparative analysis of collection evaluation data on the main
morphological characteristics, the persimmon cultivars were combined in the following
groups:
Presenceorabsenceofastringencyinfruitpulp
- Constant not astringent cultivars (PCNA); their fruits become sweet after typical
coloration irrespective of seeds and ripening level.
- Variable not astringent cultivars (PVNA); firm, sweet fruits with three and more
seeds.
- Variable astringent cultivars (PVA); seedless fruits, astringent in firm state.
- Constant astringent cultivars (PCA); fruits are astringent in firm state, it is possible
to eat them only fully ripened in 10-30 days after harvesting.
PCNA cultivars: ‘Prevoskhodny’, ‘Fuyu’, ‘Kiara’, ‘Krymchanka’, ‘Nakhodka’, ‘Nadezhda’,
‘ P r e l e s t n a y a ’, ‘ Tr i u m f ’, ‘ Z o l o t i s t a y a ’, a n d ‘ S h a r o n ’.
PVNA cultivars: ‘Ukrainka’, ‘Sputnik’, ‘Zarya’, ‘Zorka’, ‘Shokoladnaya’, ‘Doch Saburozy’,
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‘Konkurent’, ‘Opylitel 48’, ‘Rubinovaya’, ‘Tsyganochka’, ‘Tavrichanka’, ‘Zvezdochka’,
‘Yuzhnoberezhnaya’, ‘Urozhainaya’, ‘Vostochnaya’, ‘Hyakume’, ‘Zengy-Maru’, ‘Yankin-Tsuru’,
‘Kuro-Kuma’, ‘Shogatsu-Gaki’, ‘Merkheulis’, ‘Geily’, and ‘Maru’.
PVA cultivars: ‘Seedless’, ‘Suvenir Oseny’, ‘Vekovaya’, ‘Cibaca’, and ‘Variruyuzhaya’.
PCA cultivars: ‘Rossiyanka’, ‘Nikitskaya’, ‘Bordovaya’, ‘Kiara’, ‘Konstantnaya’, ‘Adzhara’,
‘Pribrezhnaya’, ‘Mechta’, ‘Zolotaya Osen’, ‘Zamanchivy’, ‘Izobilnaya’, ‘Yaltinsky’, ‘Yuzhnaya
Krasavitsa’, ‘Kostata’, ‘Nitary’, ‘Tanenashy’, ‘Aizumishirazu’, ‘Hiragaki’, ‘Yurogaki’, ‘Yamagaki’,
‘Orest Uzhgorod’, ‘Tone Wase’, ‘Rojo Brillante’, ‘Druzhba’, ‘Del i s h e s ’, ‘ S k r o m n i t s a ’, ‘ K a v a b a t a ’,
and ‘Zhuravlyenok’.
Massoffruits
- Large-fruited cultivars; mass of fruits is more than 200 g.
- Medium-fruited cultivars; mass is 150-500 g.
- Small -fruited cultivars; mass is 100-150 g.
Large fruited cultivars: ‘Hachiya’, ‘Hyakume’, ‘Zolotistaya’, ‘Sharon’, ‘Konkurent’,
‘Batumsky II’, ‘Zamanchivy’, ‘Mechta’, and ‘Yaltinsky’.
Medium fruited cultivars: ‘Adzhara’, ‘Prevoskhodny’, ‘Yuzhnoberezhnaya’, ‘Ukrainka’,
‘Sputnik’, ‘Zarya’, ‘Zorka’, ‘Zvezdochka’, ‘Shokoladnaya’, ‘Doch Saburozy’, ‘Zendzhi-Maru’,
‘Yanki-Tsuru’, ‘Kuro-Kuma’, ‘Shogatsu-Gaki’, ‘Geily’, ‘Maru’, ‘Rojo Brillante’, ‘Sharon’, ‘Vekovaya’,
‘Kiara’, ‘Konstantnaya’, ‘Adzhara’, ‘Pribrezhnaya’, ‘Mechta’, ‘Zolotaya Osen’, ‘Zamanchivy’,
‘Izobilnaya’, ‘Yaltinsky’, ‘Yuzhnaya Krasavitsa’, ‘Kostata’, ‘Nitari’, ‘Tanenashi’, ‘Aizumishirazu’,
and ‘Opylitel 48’.
Small fruited cultivars: ‘Hiragaki’, ‘Yurogaki’, ‘Orest Uzhgorod’, ‘Tone Wase’,
‘Rossiyanka’, ‘Nikitskaya Bordovaya’, ‘Zhuravlyenok’, and ‘Krymchanka’.
Periodsofripeningandfullcolorationoffruits
- Very early (fruits color at the end of August - beginning of September) – ‘Ukrainka’,
‘Izobilnaya’, and ‘Yankin-Tsuru’.
- Early (coloration begins in the second decade - beginning of the third decade of
September) – ‘Hyakume’, ‘Sputnik’, ‘Shokoladnaya’, ‘Doch Saburozy’, ‘Rojo Brillante’,
‘Sharon’, ‘Mechta’, ‘Zolotistaya’, ‘Yuzhnaya Krasavitsa’, and ‘Zvyezdochka’.
- Middle period of ripening (fruits color up to the 10th of October) –
‘Yuzhnoberezhnaya’, ‘Batumsky II’, ‘Zamanchivy’, ‘Zarya’, ‘Zorka’, ‘Prevoskhodny’,
‘Rojo Brillante’, ‘Sharon’, ‘Hachiya’, ‘Suvenir Oseni’, ‘Mechta’, ‘ H i r a g a k i ’, ‘ Y u r o g a k i ’,
‘Jiro’, ‘Yamagaki’, ‘Orest Uzhgorod’, ‘Tone Wase’, ‘Zhuravlyenok’, ‘Zengi-Maru’, ‘Kuro-
Kuma’, ‘Shogatsu-Gaki’, ‘Merheulis’, ‘Geily’, and ‘Opylitel 48’.
- Late (coloration of fruits begins at the end of October - beginning of November) –
‘Rossiyanka’, ‘Nikitskaya Bordovaya’, ‘Zolotaya Osen’, ‘Pribrezhnaya’, ‘Izobilnaya’, and
‘A d z h a r a ’.
- Very late (ripening of fruits with coloration is in the second decade of November) –
‘Yaltinsky’, ‘Konkurent’, and ‘Vekovaya’.
Winter-resistance
- Resistant cultivars (single bud damage on annual shoots).
- Cultivars with resistance above average (up to 20% damaged buds).
- Cultivars with average resistance (20-40% damaged buds with partial damage of
annual wood).
- Weakly resistant cultivars (40-80% damaged buds and wood of many last year
shoots).
- Very weakly resistant cultivars (more than 80% damaged buds and partial damage
of wood of 2-year and 3-year old shoots).
The main factors limiting the growing area of eastern persimmon in the Crimea and
Southern Russia are temperature parameters of winter-summer periods and winter-
resistance of plants.
Ten cultivars bred in Nikita Botanical Gardens belong to the resistant group:
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‘Rossiyanka’, ‘Zolotistaya’, ‘Suvenir Oseni’, ‘Nakhodka’, ‘Zorka’, ‘Yuzhnoberezhnaya’, ‘Zolotaya
Osen’, ‘Krymchanka’, ‘Nikitskaya Bordovaya’, and ‘Yuzhnaya Krasavitsa’. These account for
almost 12% of the collection. Cultivars having the level of winter resistance higher than
average (26.6%) are combined into a group of 23 cultivars of domestic and foreign
selections.
The largest group is the group with average level of resistance (55.8%) with 48
cultivars. Groups with weak (14%) and very weak (14%) resistance have 12 cultivars each.
Parthenocarpicpotential
- Cultivars unable to set fruits without pollination: ‘Kiara’, ‘Kiara Konstantnaya’,
‘ H y a k u m e ’, ‘S p u t n i k ’, ‘ K u r o - K u m a’, ‘ H a c h i y a ’, ‘ V e k o v ay a ’, ‘ P r i m orskaya’, ‘Obilnaya’,
‘Krymchanka’, ‘Doch Saburozy’, and ‘Prevoskhodny’.
- Cultivars able to set a large number of seedless fruits: ‘Seedless’, ‘Urozhaynaya’,
‘A i z u m i s h i r a r u ’, ‘ M e c h t a ’, ‘ Y u z h n o b e r e z h n a y a ’, ‘ S h a g o t s u - G a k i ’, ‘Opylitel 87’,
‘Druzhba’, ‘Zolotistaya’, ‘Suvenir Oseni’, ‘Yuzhnaya Krasavitsa’, and ‘Zvyezdochka’.
The harvest from then in some years increases the yield capacity under free
pollination.
Research done in 2004-2013 showed that the majority of persimmon cultivars in the
collection of the Gardens did not set fruits without pollination. In the conditions of South
Coast of the Crimea pollination increases the productivity of all cultivars of eastern
persimmon.
Using flowering period overlap the following cultivars-pollinizer combinations for
commercial plantations are recommended:
‘Hyakume’ - ‘Opylitel 48’, ‘Opylitel 87’, ‘Fuyu’, ‘Shagotsu-Gaki’, ‘Sputnik’;
‘Hachiya’ - ‘Nikitskiy Opylitel’, ‘Sputnik’, ‘Zengi-Maru’, ‘Fuyu’;
‘ S e e d l e s s ’ - ‘ N i k i t s k i y O p y l i t e l ’, ‘ S p u t n i k ’, ‘ Z e n g i - M a r u ’, ‘ O p ylitel 48’, ‘Opylitel 87’;
‘Kuro-Kuma’ - ‘Opylitel 145’, ‘Opylitel 27’, ‘Opylitel 48’;
‘Aizumishirazu’ - ‘Nikitskiy Opylitel’, ‘Sputnik’, ‘Opylitel 48’;
‘Doch Saburozy’ - ‘Zengi-Maru’, ‘Opylitel 45’, ‘Sputnik’;
‘Primorskaya’ - ‘Zengi-Maru’, ‘Sputnik’, ‘Opylitel 27’;
‘Ukrainka’ - ‘Nikitskiy Opylitel’, ‘Sputnik’, ‘Fuyu’;
‘Zolotistaya’ - ‘Nikitskiy Opylitel’, ‘Sputnik’, ‘Opylitel 48'.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The persimmon germplasm collection at Nikita Botanical Gardens is one of the
largest in Russia, and therefore provides the most opportunity for solving problems
affecting modern persimmon production.
2. Most of the foreign persimmon cultivars had early spring budbreak that made them
susceptible to freezing at slightly negative air temperatures (from -9° up to -8°C)
after early spring thaws. Some cultivars are better adapted to local environmental
conditions: ‘Hyakume’, ‘Shagotsu-Gaki’, ‘Nitari’, ‘Seedless’, ‘Aizumishirazu’,
‘Batumsky II’, ‘Tamopan’, ‘Hiragaki’, ‘Yurogaki’, ‘Jiro’, ‘Yamagaki’, and ‘Orest
Uzhgorod’.
3. Due to a high chilling requirement (winter rest), persimmon cultivars bred in Nikita
Botanical Gardens are not affected by winter thaws. Therefore, they bear fruit every
year.
4. Cultivars at the gardens can be divided into the following groups according to their
economic use:
- for commercial use: ‘Zolotistaya’, ‘Suvenir Oseni’, ‘Nakhodka’, ‘ Z o r k a ’,
‘Yuzhnoberezhnaya’, ‘Yuzhnaya Krasavitsa’, ‘Krymchanka’, ‘Nikitskaya Bordovaya’,
‘Rossiyanka’, ‘Opylitel 48’, ‘Opylitel 87’, ‘Zamanchivy’, ‘Merchta’, ‘Zvyezdochka’.
and ‘Zolotaya Osen’.
- as parents for breeding large-fruited cultivars: ‘Hachiya’, ‘Hyakume’, ‘Zolotistaya’,
‘Rojo Brillante’, ‘Sharon’, ‘Konkurent, Batumsky II’, ‘Zamanchiv y ’, ‘ M e c h t a ’,
‘Yaltinsky’.
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- for early ripening: ‘Ukrainka’, ‘Izobilnaya’, ‘Yankin-Tsuru’.
5. The optimal placement cultivars and their pollinizers in commercial persimmon
orchards are in units of three rows with two rows of the standard cultivar and one
row of pollinizer.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was funded by a research grant Nº 14-5-00079 of the Russian Science
Foundation.
Literaturecited
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(Leningrad: Kolos), p.54-60 (in Russian).
Kalayda, F.K. (1948). Ebenaceae.Diospyros L. Scientific works Nikita Botanical Gardens. 22, 209-212 (in Russian).
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