Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Diospyros mespiliformis - Jackalberry

Edible parts - Fruit, Seeds, Leaves, Vegetable

An evergreen tree. It grows up to 15-20 m tall. It can grow to 45 m tall in forests. It has a dense wide spreading round crown. The trunk sometimes has buttresses. Young branches have soft hairs. The bark is dark grey. The bark is smooth in young trees and becomes rough in older trees. The small twigs are pink. The leaves are simple. They are 4-17 cm long and 1.5-5.5 cm wide. The midrib is sunken on top and prominent underneath. The flowers occur as male and female flowers on separate trees. The male flowers occur in clusters and the female flowers occur singly. The fruit are round and 3 cm across. They have sweet
edible pulp. The fruit are green and with hairs when young and become yellow or purple when ripe. They contain 4-6 seeds. 

A tropical plant. It can grow in the tropical lowlands. It occurs in tropical Africa south of the Sahara. It grows in the Sahel. It grows in semi arid woodland. In occurs where the mean temperatures are between 16°C and 27°C. In Tanzania it grows between 350-1250 m altitude. It is more common where rainfall is 500-1270 mm per year. It does best on heavy soils. It often grows near streams and freshwater. It can grow on termite mounds. It can grow in arid places. It grows in Miombo woodland in Africa.