Diospyros texana "D. texana" favors riparian zones, prairie margins, and rocky slopes. It prefers well-drained, alkaline soils]. The sapwood of Texas persimmon is clear yellow, while the heartwood, found only in very large trees, is black (ebony), like that of the related "D. ebenum". The heartwood is hard and dense and takes a high polish. It is used to make engraving blocks, artwork, and tools. The fleshy berries are edible and sweet when ripe and are used in puddings and custards; they are also relished by many species of birds and mammals. They were traditionally used by Native Americans to make a
Lissocarpa Lissocarpa Lissocarpa is a genus of flowering plants, described as a genus in 1876. It is classified as belonging to the family Ebenaceae, the ebony and diospyros family. It includes only a few species of small evergreen trees and shrubs species native to tropical South America. "Lissocarpa" species share various characters with other members of Ebenaceae, e.g., the black color of roots and bark, extrafloral nectaries on abaxial leaf surfaces, a persistent calyx, unisexual flowers, biovulate carpels with pendulous ovules, and a similar wood anatomy producing a hard, dark heartwood timber similar to ebony. They are slow-growing trees found on