Diospyros thus avoided by most herbivores; when ripe they are eagerly eaten by many animals however, such as the rare Aders' duiker ("Cephalophus adersi"). The foliage is used as food by the larvae of numerous Lepidoptera species: Arctiidae: Geometridae: Limacodidae: Lycaenidae: Nymphalidae: Saturniidae: Tortricidae: An economically significant plant pathogen infecting many "Diospyros" species – "D. hispida", kaki persimmon ("D. kaki"), date-plum ("D. lotus"), Texas persimmon ("D. texana"), Coromandel ebony ("D. melanoxylon") and probably others – is the sac fungus "Pseudocercospora kaki", which causes a leaf spot disease. The genus includes several plants of commercial importance, either for their edible fruit (persimmons)
Bush tomato is roasted before being eaten or dried. Fruit of "S.orbiculatum" is edible, but the fruit of the large leafed form may be bitter. Fruit of "S. phlomoides" appears to be edible after the removal of seeds and roasting or sundrying. "S. aviculare" contains solasodine, a steroid used in the manufacture of oral contraceptives. Bush tomato The term bush tomato refers to the fruit or entire plants of certain nightshade ("Solanum") species native to the more arid parts of Australia. While they are quite closely related to tomatoes ("Solanum lycopersicum"), they might be even closer relatives of the eggplant ("S. melongena"),