Kaki Blooms and Baby Fruit

The farm I work on here in Tokyo still holds a few remnants of the traditional farmstead: mikan, biwa, ume, and chestnut trees along with a few traditional flowering shrubs dot the landscape around the house and fields. One of these is a massive kaki tree. It provides welcome shade in the summer months, and plenty of shelter opportunities for local birds. It's fruit is also bountiful come autumn, although the kind of kaki (persimmon) it bears is the drying kind, not the eat-right-off-the-branch-wipe-your-chin kind.

This morning during a lull in activity, I wandered over to get a quick drink of water. Looking up at the kaki's branches, I noticed some small white blossoms surrounded by green leaves that resembled nothing so much as lips. A closer inspection of other branches revealed tiny, tiny kaki just beginning to form. I'd noticed the mini-fruit before, but never spotted them quite so young. Somehow I'm amazed every time.

What about Spring surprises you each time?

Comments

Anjuli said…

I love seeing the budding of the trees when spring arrives.

May 18, 2011 at 4:37 PM

Julia Munroe Martin said…

Beautiful! How big do the fruits grow? Like American persimmons? Right now, here in Maine, blossoms are just coming out on our apple tree and the lilac bushes...

May 18, 2011 at 9:19 PM

Joan Lambert Bailey said…

Me, too, Anjuli! I just hope readers don't tire of all these flower pictures. :)

Julia, there are different kinds of persimmons here. Some are short and fat, some longish and narrow. They have different purposes and slightly different flavors. How they compare to American varieties I have no idea. I'd never seen a persimmon until we moved here. There are some photos at Summer Tomato in a post I wrote about one of Tokyo's farmer's markets that might give you an idea.

May 20, 2011 at 9:32 AM

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