Ber and other Jujubes monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

Shrubs or small trees up to 8-10 m high with rigid spreading boughs and stiff
branches; an appearance often producing a gnarled shape. Tree forms tend to
have a small canopy extending 3.5-4.5 m. Trunks may be short or long
depending on genotype. Branches are armed with paired spikes, one of each
pair larger than the other and straight, the shorter one recurved. Older parts of
older trees can lose their spines. Branchlets are flexuous, green and glabrous
when young. Fruiting branchlets are deciduous.
Leaves are (2-) 2.5-5 (-5.5) cm long oblong, obtuse, glabrous (rarely tomentose
beneath), glandular, crenate-serrate, 3-nerved. Petioles are 2.5-7.5 cm long.
Stipules form the spines.
Flowers are few in a small axillary cluster or cyme which is larger than its
peduncle. Flowers have a disk obscurely lobed. Styles are 2, connate for half
their length.
Fruit is an ovoid-oblong edible drupe 1.5-2.3 cm long, dark reddish brown to
black, each being short stalked and may be pendulous. Pulp sour to sweet.
Chinese jujube is native to temperate Asia, particularly China and neighbouring
areas of Mongolia and the Central Asian Republics. In cultivation it spread
westwards to the Mediterranean, throughout the Near East and SW Asia and
spread eastwards in cultivation to Korea and Japan. Like Z. mauritiana this
species also naturalises in many Asian countries and ‘wild’ populations are to
be found which are derivatives from cultivation. It is mostly cultivated in
China, India, Central Asia and southwest Asia.
Z. jujuba var. spinosa Hu ex H. F. Chow is typified by possession of small sour
fruits and is usually a spiny shrub or small tree (Wang and Sun, 1986). Z.
jujuba var. inermis has unarmed branches and styles not connate (Brandis,
1874).
Chinese jujube is adapted to subtropical and warm temperate areas. It prefers a
relatively dry climate during the growing season but cool during its dormancy.
It can tolerate lower temperatures than Indian jujube and can survive -10°C.
There should be no confusion between the Chinese jujube and the description
of Z. jujuba (L.) Gaertn. var. hysudrica Edgew which relates to reputed hybrids
of Z. mauritiana and Z. spina-christi.
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