BATS AND THE JACKAL BERRY TREE (Diospyros mespiliformis)

BATS AND THE JACKAL BERRY TREE
(Diospyros mespiliformis)

The jackal berry tree, which can grow to 80 feet (24 metres) in height, is in the Ebenaceae family and is known commonly as swamp ebony. It is widespread in Africa and has a round fruit that is about an inch (2.54 cm) in diameter. The fruit, which tastes like a lemony guava, is eaten by humans, parrots, pigeons, warthogs, impalas, baboons, vervet monkeys, hornbills,and bats.

Fujita (1991) lists two species of bats that eat the jackal berry fruit and plant jackal berry trees; Buettikofer's flying fox and the Gambian epauletted bat.

Buettikofer's flying fox

The tree's leaves are eaten by buffalos, black rhinos, cattle, sheep, goats, giraffes, elephants, eland, kudu and the larvae of the bushveld emperor butterfly.

Jackal berry tree wood: Jackal berry tree wood is dense, hard and fine-grained. It is chosen for floors and fine furniture. The wood is also used to make dugout canoes, wagons, weaver's looms, leatherworker's boards, stamping blocks, cups, spoons and artificial limbs.

In Burkina Faso there is a belief that when a tool, such as a shepherd's staff, is made from jackal berry tree wood, the user of the tool is protected.

Like so many bat-trees, the jackal berry tree provides chewsticks for cleaning teeth.

The jackal berry tree is sometimes found growing in the moist, well-aerated soil of termite mounds, so it is no surprise that the tree's wood is termite-proof.

Fruit: Jackal berry fruit can be preserved, fermented, eaten fresh or dried. Dried fruit can be ground into flour. Fermented fruit can be processed to make beer and brandy.

Honey: Jackal berry tree flowers are small, white, sweet to smell, and nectar-rich. The flowers are attractive to honey bees. In Sudan, where bee-keeping is economically important, beekeepers hang beehives high in the jackal berry trees, close to the flowers.

Other conditions that are traditionally treated by jackal berry tree preparations are:

Research published in October 2002 proved that a methanol extract from the tree had antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects when tested on rats and mice. (Adzu B. et al)

The tree contains plumbagen, a crystalline substance, which has antibacterial effects. It has also been discovered to act against atherosclerosis and inhibit the multiplication of cells. The latter property suggests its possible use in the treatment of cancer.

Adzu, B., Amos, S., Dzarma, S., Muazzam, I. Gamaniel, K.S. (2002) Pharmacological evidence favouring the folkloric use of Diospyros mespiliformis Hochst in the relief of pain and fever. J. Ethnopharmacol, 82(203):191-5

Fujita, M.S. 1991. Flying Fox (Chiroptera:Pteropodidae) Pollination, Seed Dispersal, and Economic Importance: A Tabular Summary of Current Knowledge, Resource Publication No. 2, Bat Conservation International

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and SemiArid Lands (SEPASAL)database. Published on the Internet;http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet/
[accessed 3 January 2007 1000 hours]

Usher, George, A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man, Constable and Company Ltd, 1974

Yaxian, Ding, et al. (2005) Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, V. 57, No. 1, p. 111

THE PLANT

Family: Ebenaceae (Persimmons and Ebonies)

Species: Diospyros mespiliformis

THE BATS

Buettikofer's flying fox
Gambian epauletted bat

Thank you to Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle, Founder and President of Bat Conservation International, Austin, Texas, for permission to use his photographs of the Buettikofer's flying fox and the Gambian epauletted bat as guides to drawing the illustrations of those bats. http://www.batcon.org

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