Dalbergia melanoxylon
Guill. & Perr. · speciesAt a glance
Sources14 archives
Databases and archives Dalbergia melanoxylon's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation13 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 406 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI18 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics41 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Dalbergia melanoxylon (African blackwood, grenadilla, or mpingo) is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to seasonally dry regions of Africa from Senegal east to Eritrea and south to the north-eastern parts of South Africa. The tree is an important timber species in its native areas; it is used in the manufacture of musical instruments and fine furniture. Populations and genomic resources for genetic biodiversity maintenance in parts of its native range are threatened by overharvesting due to poor or absent conservation planning and by the species' low germination rates. It is a small tree, reaching 4–15 m tall, with grey bark and spiny shoots. The leaves are deciduous in the dry season, alternate, 6–22 cm long, pinnately compound, with 6–9 alternately arranged leaflets. The flowers are white and produced in dense clusters. The fruit is a pod 3–7 cm long, containing one to two seeds.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology8
Life cycle & reproduction8
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment11
Physiology & chemistry9
Compounds documented for Dalbergia melanoxylon across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds31 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| (10R)-3,5,16-trimethoxy-11-methyl-11-azatetracyclo[8.7.1.02,7.014,18]octadeca-1(18),2,4,6,14,16-hexaene-4,17-diol | present | NPASS | |
| (10S)-3,4,5,16-Tetramethoxy-11-methyl-11-azatetracyclo[8.7.1.02,7.014,18]octadeca-1(18),2,4,6,14,16-hexaen-17-ol | present | NPASS | |
| (1R,4S,5S,6S,15S)-5,9,10-trimethoxy-16-methyl-7-oxa-16-azapentacyclo[10.6.1.01,6.02,15.08,19]nonadeca-2,8(19),9,11-tetraen-4-ol | present | NPASS | |
| (2S,3S)-2-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-6-methoxy-3-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1-benzofuran-5-ol | present | LOTUS | |
| (6As)-1,2,10,11,12-pentamethoxy-6-methyl-4,5,6,6a,7,8-hexahydrobenzo[6,7]cyclohepta[1,2,3-ij]isoquinoline | present | NPASS | |
| (6aS)-4,5,6,6a,7,8-Hexahydro-2,11,12-trimethoxy-6-methylbenzo[6,7]cyclohept[1,2,3-ij]isoquinoline-1,10-diol | present | NPASS | |
| (S)-4'-Hydroxy-4-methoxydalbergione | present | LOTUS | |
| (S)-4-Methoxydalbergione | present | LOTUS | |
| 2,5-Dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone | present | LOTUS | |
| 2-methoxy-5-[(2S,3S)-3-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1-benzofuran-2-yl]cyclohexa-1,5-dien-1-ol | present | LOTUS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Dalbergia melanoxylon has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Dalbergia melanoxylon carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 206×GoaT · Kew Plant DNA C-values Database · CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · book-indian_vol1 +3
diploid1×GoaT · Kew Plant DNA C-values Database
diploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type1 406 records
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions16 of 45 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Pretoria, ZA | 67 |
| Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropicallocation not on record | 62 |
| Saint Louis, US | 58 |
| Kew, GB | 57 |
| South Kensington, GB | 48 |
| TAFORI-LSRClocation not on record | 21 |
| Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique / Institut de l'environnement et de recherches agricoleslocation not on record | 20 |
| Paris, FR | 12 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 11 |
| Yaoundé, CM | 9 |
| EFGlocation not on record | 9 |
| Edinburgh, GB | 9 |
| Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record | 7 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 7 |
| National Museums of Kenyalocation not on record | 6 |
| Arusha, TZ | 4 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 4 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 4 |
| Uppsala, SE | 3 |
| Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory, Gorongosa NPlocation not on record | 3 |
| LDlocation not on record | 3 |
| National Herbarium & Botanic Gardens of Malawilocation not on record | 3 |
| Xiamen, CN | 3 |
| Cape Town, ZA | 2 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 2 |
| Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoirelocation not on record | 2 |
| MAlocation not on record | 2 |
| Bronx, US | 2 |
| University of Johannesburg, Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnologylocation not on record | 2 |
| WAGlocation not on record | 2 |
| LNBG$location not on record | 2 |
| Sokoine University of Agriculturelocation not on record | 2 |
| Ojo, NG | 1 |
| San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record | 1 |
| Royal Botanic Gardens, Kewlocation not on record | 1 |
| CNF-UFHBlocation not on record | 1 |
| Centro de Biotecnologia e Quimica-CEBIQlocation not on record | 1 |
| MSB-3054location not on record | 1 |
| IFAN Ch. A. Dioplocation not on record | 1 |
| Stockholm, SE | 1 |
| UJlocation not on record | 1 |
| Durban, ZA | 1 |
| University of Johannesburglocation not on record | 1 |
| South African National Biodiversity Institutelocation not on record | 1 |
| HNBlocation not on record | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Dalbergia melanoxylon was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.