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)
Fish pepper with some Mid-Atlantic restaurants using it today. Per Baker Creek this is an African-American heirloom popular in the Philadelphia/Baltimore region. A pre- 1947 variety that was used in fish and shellfish cookery. The color of the fruit range from green, orange, brown, white and red, being spicy and hot. What really makes this pepper stand out is its wonderful foliage, as the 2’ tall plants have stunning white and green mottled leaves, which makes this variety superb for ornamental and edible landscaping. William Woys Weaver introduced this pepper from his grandfather's collection. His grandfather received the pepper from African-American folk