Persimmon is Japan's national fruit and that's where it originated (American persimmons are mostly ornamental). Persimmon seeds first came to the United States when Commodore Perry sent them from Japan in 1856. Today, persimmons are grown in a plethora of varieties in China, Burma, Northern India, and Australia; in the US, it grows in Southern and Southwestern states, predominantly California. Persimmons are red-brown or orange fruits that grow on trees like plums and look like a small, rather flat tomato capped by a calyx.