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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Diospyros''
| image = Persimmon 0375.JPG
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = American Persimmon flower<br>[[Hemingway, South Carolina]]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Ericales]]
| familia = [[Ebenaceae]]
| genus = '''''Diospyros'''''
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
450-500; see text
}}
'''''Diospyros''''' is a [[genus]] (including what used to be ''Maba'') of about 450-500 species of [[deciduous]] and [[evergreen]] [[tree]]s. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate climates. The genus includes species of commercial importance, either for their edible fruit (including the [[persimmon]]s, ''D. kaki'' and ''D. virginiana'') or for their timber. These include the two trade groups of [[ebony (disambiguation)| ebony]]: the pure black ebony (notably ''D. ebenum'', but also several other species) and the striped ebony (macassar, mun, and others). In most species in the genus this black ebony-type wood is (almost completely) absent: the timbers of such species may find restricted use, e.g. ''D. virginiana''.
''Diospyros'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species including [[Double-striped Pug]], ''[[Eupseudosoma|Eupseudosoma aberrans]]'', [[Eupseudosoma|Snowy Eupseudosoma]] and ''[[Hypercompe|Hypercompe indecisa]]''.
==Species==
* ''D. acris''.
* ''D. armata''.
* ''D. australis''. East coast [[Australia]].
* ''D. canaliculata'' (syns. ''D. cauliflora'', ''D. xanthochlamys'').
* ''D. celebica''. '''Macassar Ebony'''.
* ''D. chloroxylon''.
* ''D. crassiflora''. '''Gaboon Ebony'''.
* ''D. confertifolia''. Southeast Asia.
* ''D. digyna''. '''Black Persimmon, Black Sapote'''. Native to [[Mexico]], and its fruit has green skin and white flesh when unripe and turns black when ripe.
* ''D. discolor''. '''[[Mabolo]], Velvet-apple'''. Native to the [[Philippines]]. It is bright red when ripe.
* ''D. ebenaster''.
* ''D. ebenum'' (syn. ''D. hebecarpa''). '''[[Ebony]]'''. A tree of tropical Asia whose dark heartwood is used in cabinetwork.
* ''D. embryopteris''. '''Black & White Ebony, Pale Moon Ebony'''. [[Myanmar]] & [[Laos]].
* ''D. fasciculosa'' Australia.
* ''D. fischeri'' (syn. ''Royena fischeri'').
* ''D. insularis''. '''New Guinea Ebony'''.
* ''D. kaki''. '''[[persimmon|Kaki Persimmon]]'''. The most widely cultivated species, grown for its delicious fruit. This species, native to [[China]], is deciduous, with broad, stiff leaves. Cultivation for the fruit extended first to other parts of east Asia, and later introduced to [[California]] and southern [[Europe]] in the 1800s.
* ''D. kurzii''. '''Marblewood, Andaman Marble'''.
* ''D. lanceifolia''. Southeast Asia.
* ''D. lotus''. '''[[Date-plum]]'''. native to southwest [[Asia]] and southeast [[Europe]]. Known to the ancient [[Greeks]] as "the fruit of the Gods", i.e., ''dios pyros'', whence the scientific name of the genus. Its English name derives from the small fruit, which have a taste reminiscent of both [[plum]]s and [[Date (fruit)|dates]].
* ''D. mabacea'' Red-fruited ebony, northern [[New South Wales]] - highly endangered species.
* ''D. macrocalyx'' (syns. ''D. loureiroana, Royena macrocalyx'').
* ''D. major'' east coast Australia.
* ''D. maritima''.
* ''D. melanoxylon''. '''[[Coromandel Ebony]], East Indian Ebony, Tendu'''. The leaves of this species are harvested in [[India]] to manufacture [[bidi]] cigarettes with.
* ''D. mespiliformis'', [[Jackalberry]] (also ''Jackal Berry", ''Jakkalbessie'', ''African Ebony'')
* ''D. multiflora''.
* ''D. mun''. '''Mun Ebony'''.
* ''D. pavonii''.
* ''D. pentamera''. '''Myrtle Ebony''' or '''Grey Persimmon'''. East coast of Australia.
* ''D. samoensis''.
* ''D. sandwicensis''. '''Lama'''. [[Endemic (ecology)|endemic]] to [[Hawaii]].
* ''D. siamang'' (syn. ''D. elliptifolia'').
* ''D. subrotata''.
* ''D. texana''. '''Texas Persimmon'''. Many-branched shrub or small tree native to central and west [[Texas]] and southwest [[Oklahoma]], where it grows on dry rocky hillsides. The fruit, smaller than those of the American Persimmon, are eaten by many species of birds and mammals. It was once used as a dye by Native Americans to tan hides.
* ''D. trichophylla'' (syn. ''D. pruriens'').
* ''D. villosa'' (syn. ''Royena villosa'').
* ''D. virginiana''. '''[[Diospyros virginiana|American Persimmon]]'''. Native to eastern [[North America]].
{{Wikispecies|Diospyros}}
[[Category:Ebenaceae]]