Hard Leaved Monkey Plum Seeds (Diospyros scabrida)

Hard Leaved Monkey Plum Seeds (Diospyros scabrida)

Price For Pack Of 5 Seeds

This lovely little tree about 5m tall and has outstanding features to recommend it; its compact growth habit, its gorgeous glossy foliage and its unusual balloon fruit capsules. It is also versatile and adaptable, a real asset to any garden.

Creamy-white, sweetly scented flowers, single or in small clusters, occur from spring through to summer (October to March). The male and female flowers are borne on different plants. The fruits, which ripen in autumn are oval, red, fleshy berries, almost entirely enclosed in inflated, bladder-like capsules that are formed from the persistent flower calyx.

The fruit is eaten by birds and flowers attract insects. Plants are dioecious, either male or female.

The fruits are edible but are somewhat bitter, and so not very tasty. Extracts of various parts of the plants are believed to have antibiotic properties. The roots are also used medicinally by the local people.

Waterwise and low maintenance, plant in a sunny spot in well-drained, frequently composted soil. As the male and female flowers occur on different plants, one of each plant is needed to ensure pollination and therefore seed formation.

Sow 1-2mm deep in sandy, well-drained, potting soil. Fresh seed germinates readily in four to eight weeks. After germination the seedlings should be potted up into individual bags/pots as soon as the first pair of true leaves appear. It can also be propagated by cuttings.