Eragrostis tef
(Zuccagni) Trotter · speciesAt a glance
Sources13 archives
Databases and archives Eragrostis tef's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation19 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 070 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI3 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics3 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
FooDBThe Metabolomics Innovation Centrecompounds↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
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 & karyotypeEvery layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Eragrostis tef, also known as teff, Williams lovegrass or annual bunch grass, is an annual grass, a species of lovegrass native to the Horn of Africa, notably to modern-day Ethiopia. It is cultivated for its edible seeds, also known as teff. Teff was one of the earliest plants domesticated. It is one of the most important staple crops in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology7
Life cycle & reproduction8
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment11
Physiology & chemistry2
Other traits1
Compounds documented for Eragrostis tef across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds5 752 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| α-D-galactose | 36,560 mg/100g | FooDB | |
| L-Glutamic acid | 3,349 mg/100g | FooDB | |
| Sugars | 1,840 mg/100g | FooDB | |
| L-Leucine | 1,068 mg/100g | FooDB | |
| L-Aspartic acid | 820 mg/100g | FooDB | |
| L-Alanine | 747 mg/100g | FooDB | |
| D-Mannose | 730 mg/100g | FooDB | |
| L-Proline | 664 mg/100g | FooDB | |
| L-Serine | 622 mg/100g | FooDB |
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 Eragrostis tef 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 Eragrostis tef 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 405×GoaT · Kew Plant DNA C-values Database · CCDB · nw-europe-fl · CCDB · book-indian_vol2 +2
n 203×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl
tetraploid1×GoaT · Kew Plant DNA C-values Database
polyploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
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 070 records
Origin
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 institutions43 of 69 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Kew, GB | 135 |
| Pretoria, ZA | 77 |
| Saint Louis, US | 54 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 22 |
| BFLlocation not on record | 17 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 14 |
| Mlocation not on record | 14 |
| Durban, ZA | 13 |
| LDlocation not on record | 12 |
| Mount Annan, AU | 12 |
| Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record | 10 |
| Canberra, AU | 8 |
| Vancouver, CA | 8 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 7 |
| Cape Town, ZA | 7 |
| Universität Basel, Herbariumlocation not on record | 6 |
| Oskarshamn, SE | 5 |
| SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record | 5 |
| John May Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 4 |
| Dresden, DE | 4 |
| Cape Town, ZA | 4 |
| University of Hamburglocation not on record | 4 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 4 |
| Mexico City, MX | 3 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 3 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 2 |
| St. Augustine, TT | 2 |
| Zürich, CH | 2 |
| Québec, CA | 2 |
| Durango, MX | 2 |
| WTUlocation not on record | 2 |
| Adelaide, AU | 2 |
| Riverside, US | 2 |
| Uppsala, SE | 2 |
| BRNUlocation not on record | 2 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 2 |
| Bloomington, US | 2 |
| San Isidro, AR | 2 |
| Stockholm, SE | 2 |
| Denver, US | 2 |
| Davis, US | 2 |
| Brisbane, AU | 1 |
| Bronx, US | 1 |
| Flagstaff, US | 1 |
| John T. Waterhouse Herbariumlocation not on record | 1 |
| DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 1 |
| Parkville, AU | 1 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Clemson, US | 1 |
| Odawara, JP | 1 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 1 |
| Universität Göttingenlocation not on record | 1 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 1 |
| Herbier National du Gabonlocation not on record | 1 |
| Vitoria, ES | 1 |
| South African National Biodiversity Institutelocation not on record | 1 |
| Pamplona, ES | 1 |
| Bern, CH | 1 |
| Dekalb, US | 1 |
| CJBGlocation not on record | 1 |
| Tartu, EE | 1 |
| Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record | 1 |
| Provo, US | 1 |
| Bozeman, US | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
| BISHlocation not on record | 1 |
| College Park, US | 1 |
| Podgorica, ME | 1 |
| Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsinlocation 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 Eragrostis tef 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.