APPLICATION OF DIOSPYROS IN CHINESE LANDSCAPE AND STUDY ON ITS TRADITIONAL CULTURE

China is one of the principal sources and distribution centers of Diospyros plants. The cultivation history can be traced back for at least 2000 years. Persimmon trees were originally cultivated as ornamental trees in the royal palace and the persimmon fruit was as a royal tribute of worship in the Zhou Dynasty. Intensive planting for fruit production appeared with the development of techniques such as grafting during Northern and Southern Dynasties. This study was conducted to analyze ornamental characteristics, seasonal changes and planting design of Diospyros plants in different types of modern green space. They can be arranged as eye-catching isolated tree, elaborate courtyard shrub or rows of street trees. However, the construction of plant community and ornamental style are not sophisticated, so three suggestions have been made for better design according to our analysis. In addition, we investigated three levels of Diospyros culture, viz., food culture, behavior culture and spiritual culture. Persimmon fruits are quite nutritious and have been made into distinctive dried-pies for festivals and ceremonies. With the development of food industry, large-scale planting also stimulated rural eco-tourism in forms of sightseeing and picking activities. Persimmon fruit also plays an important role in traditional painting, poetry and folk arts due to its auspicious meaning in Chinese homophonic culture. Thus, we suggested that food production, landscape design and eco-tourism should be considered comprehensively as an integrated industry in some main producing areas.