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Diospyros

 
Diospyros

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Diospyros



 
 
Diospyros is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of about 450-500 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
 and evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s. The majority are native to the tropics
Tropics

The Tropics, seated in the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23?26' N latitude, and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23?26' S latitude....
, with only a few species extending into temperate
Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold....
 regions. Commonly, they are known as ebony
Ebony (disambiguation)

Ebony refers firstly to a dense black wood, and hence also to:...
 trees
and persimmon
Persimmon

A persimmon, known to the ancient Greeks as "the fruit of the gods" is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family ....
 trees
.

iospyros species are important and conspicuous trees in many of their native ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
s, such as Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests
Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests

The Caspian and Hyrcanian Mixed Forests ecoregion is an area of lush lowland and montane forests covering about 55,000 square kilometers near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea....
, Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests
Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests

The Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests are a tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion of western India....
, Louisiade Archipelago rain forests, Madagascar lowland forests
Madagascar lowland forests

The Madagascar lowland forests are a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion, found on the eastern coast of the island of Madagascar....
, Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests
Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests

The Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests are a tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion of central India. The ecoregion lies mostly in Madhya Pradesh state, but extends into portions of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh states....
, New Guinea mangroves
New Guinea mangroves

The New Guinea mangroves is a mangrove ecoregion that covers portions of coastal New Guinea. The New Guinea mangroves cover an area of 26,800 square kilometers , and cover extensive areas of coastline, particularly among the river mouths of New Guinea's south coast....
 or South Western Ghats montane rain forests
South Western Ghats montane rain forests

The South Western Ghats montane rain forests are an ecoregion of South India, covering the southern portion of the Western Ghats range in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, at elevations over 1000 meters....
.






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Encyclopedia


Diospyros is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of about 450-500 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
 and evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s. The majority are native to the tropics
Tropics

The Tropics, seated in the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23?26' N latitude, and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23?26' S latitude....
, with only a few species extending into temperate
Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold....
 regions. Commonly, they are known as ebony
Ebony (disambiguation)

Ebony refers firstly to a dense black wood, and hence also to:...
 trees
and persimmon
Persimmon

A persimmon, known to the ancient Greeks as "the fruit of the gods" is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family ....
 trees
.

Ecology

Diospyros species are important and conspicuous trees in many of their native ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
s, such as Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests
Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests

The Caspian and Hyrcanian Mixed Forests ecoregion is an area of lush lowland and montane forests covering about 55,000 square kilometers near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea....
, Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests
Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests

The Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests are a tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion of western India....
, Louisiade Archipelago rain forests, Madagascar lowland forests
Madagascar lowland forests

The Madagascar lowland forests are a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion, found on the eastern coast of the island of Madagascar....
, Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests
Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests

The Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests are a tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion of central India. The ecoregion lies mostly in Madhya Pradesh state, but extends into portions of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh states....
, New Guinea mangroves
New Guinea mangroves

The New Guinea mangroves is a mangrove ecoregion that covers portions of coastal New Guinea. The New Guinea mangroves cover an area of 26,800 square kilometers , and cover extensive areas of coastline, particularly among the river mouths of New Guinea's south coast....
 or South Western Ghats montane rain forests
South Western Ghats montane rain forests

The South Western Ghats montane rain forests are an ecoregion of South India, covering the southern portion of the Western Ghats range in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, at elevations over 1000 meters....
. The fruit are rich in tannin
Tannin

Tannins are astringent, bitter plant polyphenols that either bind and Precipitation or shrink proteins. The astringency from the tannins is what causes the dry and puckery feeling in the mouth following the consumption of red wine or an unripened fruit....
s and thus avoided by most herbivores
Plant defense against herbivory

Plant defense against herbivory or host-plant resistance includes a range of adaptations evolved by plants that improve their fitness by reducing the impact of herbivores....
 when unripe; when ripe they are eagerly eaten my many animals however, such as the rare Aders' Duiker (Cephalophus adersi).

The foliage is used as food by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e of numerous Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
 species:

Arctiidae
Arctiidae

Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, with 6,000 Neotropical species . This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths , which usually have bright colours, footmen , lichen moths and wasp moths....
:
  • Eupseudosoma aberrans
  • Snowy Eupseudosoma (Eupseudosoma involutum)
  • Hypercompe indecisa
Geometridae:
  • Double-striped Pug
    Double-striped Pug

    The Double-striped Pug is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a widespread and common species, being found throughout the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa....
     (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)
Lycaenidae
Lycaenidae

The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterfly, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies....
:
  • Quaker
    Neopithecops zalmora

    The Quaker is a small butterfly found in South Asia and Southeast Asia that belongs to the Lycaenidae family....
     (Neopithecops zalmora)
Nymphalidae
Nymphalidae

The Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterfly which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies....
:
  • Kihansi Charaxes
    Kihansi Charaxes

    Kihansi Charaxes is a new species of butterfly discovered in Kihansi Conservation Area in Tanzania. Devolent Mtui, a researcher scientist working for Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute made the discovery....
     (Charaxes khasianus), recorded on D. natalensis
  • Redspot Duke (Dophla evelina), recorded on D. candolleana
Saturniidae
Saturniidae

The Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, are among the largest and most spectacular of the moths. They form a family of Lepidoptera, with an estimated 1,300 to 1,500 described species worldwide....
:
  • Luna Moth (Actias luna)
  • Promethea Silkmoth (Callosamia promethea)
  • Regal Moth (Citheronia regalis), recorded on American Persimmon (D. virginiana)
Tortricidae
Tortricidae

Tortricidae is a family of moths in the order Lepidoptera. They are commonly known as tortrix moths. It is a large family with over 6,300 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea....
:
  • Black Lyre Leafroller Moth (Cnephasia jactatana)


An economically significant plant pathogen infecting many Diospyros species – D. hispida, Kaki Persimmon (D. kaki), Date-plum (D. lotus), Texas Persimmon (D. texana), Ebony Persimmon (D. melanoxylon) and probably others – is the sac fungus Pseudocercospora kaki
Pseudocercospora kaki

Pseudocercospora kaki is a fungus plant pathogen, who causes leaf spot of persimmon. Some examples of host species are Diospyros hispida, Diospyros kaki, Diospyros lotus, Diospyros texana, and Diospyros tupru....
, which causes a leaf spot
Leaf spot

Leaf Spots are round blemishes found on the Leaf of many species of plants, mostly caused by parasitic fungi or bacteria.A typical spot is "zonal", meaning it has a definite edge and often has a darker border....
 disease.

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