Hi Jafar,
Yes, Meader is self-fertile and it will mature around here. Most people who grow fruit around here have never tasted an American persimmon and probably don't know that they exist as a separate species from the Asian persimmons. They have them in the HOS arboretum. They matured even in these last two extremely cold/late years. Viron and Jerry either grow them or used to grow them. I think they are delicious. I greatly prefer their subtle, mysterious flavor to that of the Asian persimmon, but I am in the minority. Kind of like Gold Rush apples vs. Red Delicious/Gala.
John S
PDX OR
Great description, John, and yes, I once had a Meader. Problem was, it was so brittle a summer breeze broke off at least two main scaffold limbs in one day – I was there and heard them snap! Broke my heart, the tree was only 4 or 5 years old… It was fun to hear my Mother reminisce about their flavor. She grew up in the Midwest and said they nearly lived on the native persimmons as kids. Wish I could recommend it … but even in my wind sheltered orchard it didn't last.
Asian persimmons are brittle, too. My Uncle lost most of the limbs from an Asian (Fuyu) with a heavy fruit load (I’d actually started the tree from a graft). He’s quite fruit savvy and had it thinned pretty well, but I believe a(nother) summer breeze took off it’s limbs. He allowed it to regrow… an Ironworker, he’s actually built a frame for it – and he’s getting consistent fruit!
They were most likely Asian. They are much more popular and well-known. Asians tend to be as big as an apple, where Americans tend to be as big as a small plum.
Meader is said to be the most brittle of all persimmons, although it is reliably self-fertile.
Some other Americans, related to Early Golden, such as Garretson and I believe Killen, are likely to be self-fertile. They sprout male limbs typically.
Szukis is another variety that is reliably self-fertile, although it is harder to find. I am currently growing Early Golden, Garretson, Szukis, NC-10 Campbell, and I just received Morris Burton and a numbered selection which is supposed to be like Yates.
As you can probably guess, I really like American persimmons.
John S
PDX OR
Thank you Viron. I was going to give a tour of my yard last year but I had conflicts with out of town visiting relatives so I had to cancel. I am Catholic and I've been feeling guilty about that so I haven't scheduled another one yet. I'm not sure what my penance is going to be 
I can discern slight differences in the varieties, but I don't know yet how to describe the differences. My favorite is always the one I am eating right at that moment.
One thing that I will definitely tell you is to grow an early cultivated variety and not just a seedling. First of all, many seedlings won't ripen on time in a late/cold year. Ruby is a late ripening cultivar and it mostly didn't ripen last year in the arboretum, but Early Golden and Meader did. The seedling trees in the Hoyt Arboretum mostly didn't ripen last year, although in some years they mostly will. Early Golden and Meader ripen every year in full sun. They get heat all day and all night back east so the heat units add up quickly. Not here.
Jim Gilbert gave me a Garretson persimmon a couple of years ago and I couldn't believe how good it was. I bought the tree. I'm hoping to get my first big crop this year.
Early GOlden is earlier than Meader. NC-10 is said to be almost a month before Early Golden, which is why I grafted it. There's a guy in New York State named John GOrdon who sells scions of American persimmon.
I couldn't find Szukis in a tree either, although Lee Reich highly recommends it, so I grafted it too. Graft them late. I think it was June when I grafted them last year. Many have referred to Morris Burton as the sweetest and best tasting of the varieties. I am trying to graft it this year. We'll see.
John S
PDX OR
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