Investigation for Morphological Diversity on Germplasm Resources of Persimmon (Diospyros spp.)

Persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) is believed to be originated in China. There are abundant persimmon genetic resources in China. To know well and utilize those resources, the fundamental and essential works are survey, collection, identification, classification and evaluation. A national project for survey and collection of persimmon genetic resources started in the 1970s all over the country. The National Field Genebank for Persimmon (NFGP) in China has been set up since the 1980s, and persimmon varieties (Diospyros spp.) were introduced not only from domestic provinces but also from Japan and Korea. More than 650 accessions were collected and are conserved in the NFGP at present. Diverse morphological characters have been evaluated every year for the conserved persimmon genetic resources. Species and varieties of persimmon showed large diversities in shoots, buds, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. More than 200 characters were evaluated using plant materials grown in the field, including 6 characters on tree, 31 on shoot, 22 on leaf, 66 on female and male flower, 71 on fruit and seeds. 87 morphological characters and 10 fruit quality characters were selected as standard characters in persimmon identification and evaluation from all the characters evaluated. The evaluation standard and the characteristics in many persimmon genetic resources cultivars evaluated in the study were published as a reference book for taxonomy, cultivar identification and breeding.