If you know the variety of this tiny fruited persimmon (Diospyros kaki), let me know. The photo is from Bonsai Today issue 39. When I first saw it, I figured ‘kaki’ was the variety, but no such luck. ‘Kaki’ just means persimmon in Japanese. Height 33″ (84cm).
Dwarf flowers and fruit
You can make leaves smaller by defoliation (cutting leaves off an entire tree, or section of a tree, resulting in a second, or even third crop of smaller leaves) and to some extent by pruning, confining the roots, limiting water and nutrients, and perhaps other means. But dwarf fruit and flowers are the result of genetic modification. No mechanical means will work, no matter how hard you try. This is why you’ll sometimes see large flowers or fruit on very small bonsai (see below).
This Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) is from the cover of Bonsai Today issue 18. Though the tree is small (height 28″), the fruit is full size. Normally, so many large fruit on such a small tree would create too much stress. In this case the fruit were probably left on for show and then removed to preserve the strength of the tree.
That would be called a “Princess Persimmon.” There are dozens of varieties of them. A guy here in Oregon grows them by the thousands and just gave a presentation on them a few months ago to the Bonsai Society of Portland.
They propagate very readily from root cuttings (frequently the roots are more interesting than the tree, although they tend to retain their black coloring), have fairly brittle wood, and are generally a very versatile bonsai species with both small leaves and small fruit.
Thanks Al, that clears that mystery up.