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)
Diospyros revaughanii species of ebony, this tree yields a dark black ebony wood. Consequently, it was severely exploited for wood and was decimated from much of its former range. It is now a threatened species and only survives in a few spots in the south-west of the island - around Bel Ombre, Mt Lion, and Perrier Nature Reserve - on exposed ridges and wet highland forest where it has escaped felling. The last patches of this tree's habitat are still threatened. Although it produces large amounts of fruit with fertile seed, these do not often germinate. The fruits were formerly eaten by