It's the growth habit more than the leaves. The winterset is a petit grower with thin branches.
Brad -- you're lucky that you have sand, Your persimmon looks incredible. Mine absolutely detests oolitic limestone. They grow fabulously in pots but as soon as they hit the ground, they become incredibly chlorotic and stop flowering and producing.
I eventually gave up on persimmon until I can truck in some sand or anything other than limestone rock. Giving them a big 8 foot wide compost pit free of limestone didn't seem to help much, as the roots find the limestone pretty quickly. Bummer, cause the persimmon is an excellent fruit.