Diospyros kaki, the Oriental persimmon,Japanese persimmon or kaki (from the Japanese name 柿, pronounced [kaki]), is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Diospyros. Although its first botanical description was not published until 1780, the kaki is among the oldest cultivated plants, having been in use in China for more than 2000 years. In some rural Chinese communities, the kaki fruit is seen as having a great mystical power that can be harnessed to cure headaches, back pains and foot ache.