I used to have a persimmon tree in my back yard. The persimmons from it were WONDERFUL. Large fruits. I used to pick them while the were still hard and turn them upside down on a cookie sheet in the garage to ripen. When ripe, they are very mushy but delicious. In fact, the pulp just cannot be beaten for it's taste.
It is also a very versatile fruit. I used to make cookies, cakes, and pies with them. Also good in fruit smoothies. The fruit pulp is extremely high in Vit A and C. Also potassium. It is an all-around good piece of fruit.
Now, I have never eaten a persimmon from the south. I know that they grow wild there. But my tree was in California and I got the idea from Italian farmers who had them growing in their yards. Nothing better LOOKING in the late fall than a persimmon tree, with no leaves on it, and all the wonderful orange fruit hanging still, waiting for some lucky stiff to gather them and put them up in some way.
The tree I had in my yard was purchased from a nursery and was not a wild one.