Diospyros mespiliformis, the jackalberry (also known as African ebony and by its Afrikaans name jakkalsbessie), is a large dioecious evergreenDiospyros mespiliformis at Useful Tropical Plants; retrieved March 26, 2018 tree found mostly in the savannas of Africa. Jackals are fond of the fruit, hence the common names. It is a member of the family Ebenaceae, and is related to the true ebony (D. ebenum) and edible persimmon (D. kaki).
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Habitat GIFTriverine or groundwater forest, on coast also in forest away from water
Woodinesswoody
Physiology & chemistry6
Leaf n21.69 mg/g
Leaf p1.6 mg/g
Nitrogen fixingnon_nitrogen_fixer
Photosynthetic pathwayC3
Specific leaf area (SLA)3.11 mm²/mg
Wood density702 mg/cm³
Other traits1
Plant support typefree-standing
03Chemical composition9 compounds
Compounds documented for Diospyros mespiliformis across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Lupane triterpenoids3
Naphthoquinones2
Bauerane triterpenoids $ Ursane and Taraxastane triterpenoids1
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 Diospyros mespiliformis has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens21
Marker genes4
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections15
Countries6
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ 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.
★matK3★rbcL7★rbcLa★trnL
plant barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualDiospyros mespiliformis 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
Genome size1 242 060 000 bp
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).
BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb
FUNGUS0.04 Gb
INSECT0.25 Gb
THIS GENOME Diospyros mespiliformis1.24 Gb
HUMAN3.2 Gb
WHEAT17 Gb
FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb
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.
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
2n 303×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · Cave1959
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — White, F. & C. G. Vosa. 1980. The chromosome cytology of African Ebenaceae with special reference to polyploidy. Bol. Soc. Brot., sér. 2 2, 53: 275–297.
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Choi, Y. A., R. Tao, K. Yonemori & A. Sugiuraq. 2003. Genomic in situ hybridization between persimmon (Diospyros kaki) and several wild species of Diospyros. J. Jap. Soc. Hort. Sci. 72: 385–388.
CCDB · Cave1959 — Mang. & Mang. 1958
Ploidy records — measured levels and diploid/polyploid inferences · click for sources
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy91% within 1 km
≤100 m 375≤1 km 69≤10 km 31>10 km 12
487 georeferenced · 6 396 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor6 883
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.
Coordinate accuracy17% within 1 km
≤100 m 3≤1 km 4≤10 km 29>10 km 5
41 georeferenced · 993 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 034
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy50% within 1 km
≤1 km 2≤10 km 2
4 georeferenced
Open the mapnot free-living4
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions23 of 56 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
167
Saint Louis, US
81
Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropicallocation not on record
69
Frankfurt am Main
67
Kew, GB
62
HNBlocation not on record
51
Yaoundé, CM
34
LSF/FSA/UAClocation not on record
27
Université du Lomélocation not on record
26
Xiamen, CN
25
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique / Institut de l'environnement et de recherches agricoleslocation not on record
24
Paris, FR
20
Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoirelocation not on record
18
WAGlocation not on record
18
TAFORI-LSRClocation not on record
14
ASUlocation not on record
10
MeiseBGlocation not on record
9
EFGlocation not on record
8
Leiden University Medical Centerlocation not on record
8
CNF-UFHBlocation not on record
8
National Herbarium & Botanic Gardens of Malawilocation not on record
8
Cape Town, ZA
5
National Museums of Kenyalocation not on record
5
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
5
Wlocation not on record
4
University of Johannesburglocation not on record
4
Uppsala, SE
4
UJLOGlocation not on record
2
Miami, US
2
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
2
Arusha, TZ
2
Davis, US
2
Riverside, US
2
Dekalb, US
2
Durban, ZA
2
LSFlocation not on record
2
Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Herbariumlocation not on record
2
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
2
CJBGlocation not on record
1
Brookings, US
1
UJlocation not on record
1
University of Johannesburg, Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnologylocation not on record
1
Glocation not on record
1
Claremont, US
1
Llocation not on record
1
Embrapa Agrobiology Diazothrophic Microbial Culture Collectionlocation not on record
1
MAlocation not on record
1
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
1
Bronx, US
1
Philadelphia, US
1
Dublin, IE
1
Stockholm, SE
1
Boise, US
1
South African National Biodiversity Institutelocation not on record
1
Berlin, DE
1
MSB-3054location not on record
1
56 institutions · 821 of 1 034 vouchered records shown · 208 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA15 detections
Where the DNA of Diospyros mespiliformis 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
Detections DNA found15
Studies independent surveys1
Countries6
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 15 detections have coordinates
Open the map6 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median23.6 °C 7.00–29.1
Seasonal swing summer↔winter8.70 °C
Max temp (day)28.5 °C 11.2–35.0
Min temp (night)16.8 °C 2.10–24.2
Precipitation66.7 mm/mo 13.3–170
Air humidity57.6 % 37.6–64.0
Moisture balance-58.8 mm/mo -180–100
Vapour deficit1,173 Pa 403–2,318
Wind speed2.60 m/s 1.90–4.80
Cloud cover21.9 % 12.4–44.9
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 12 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
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.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation9 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility8 380 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI15 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics21 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗