The persimmon is the glossy, orange, tomato-shaped fruit of the Asian persimmon tree, Diospyros kaki — the most widely grown member of the ebony family eaten as fruit. It comes in two practical kinds: astringent types like the acorn-shaped Hachiya, which pucker the mouth ferociously with tannin until they soften to a jelly-like, honey-sweet pulp, and non-astringent types like the squat Fuyu, which are sweet and edible while still crisp as an apple. Ripe, it tastes of honey, brown sugar and a faint floral fruitiness, and is dried whole into the prized Korean gotgam and Japanese hoshigaki.