''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s and small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s in the

buckthorn ''Rhamnus'' is a genus of about 140 accepted species of shrubs or small trees, commonly known as buckthorns, in the family Rhamnaceae. Its species range from tall (rarely to ) and are native mainly in east Asia and North America, but found thr ...

family,

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large Family (biology), family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 specie ...

. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are alternate, entire, with three prominent basal veins, and often aromatic. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are small, inconspicuous yellow-green. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is an edible

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

, often very sweet and sugary, reminiscent of a date in texture and flavour. Well known species include the commonly cultivated ''Ziziphus jujuba'' (

jujube Jujube (UK ; US or ), sometimes jujuba, scientific name ''Ziziphus jujuba'', and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus '' Ziziphus'' in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused wit ...

), ''

Ziziphus spina-christi ''Ziziphus spina-christi'', known as the Christ's thorn jujube, is a thorny and an evergreen tree or plant native to the Levant, East Africa, and Mesopotamia. Ecology In the Levant, it grows in valleys up to an elevation of 500 m, and is d ...

'' from southwestern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, ''

Ziziphus lotus ''Ziziphus lotus'' is a small deciduous tree in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, including the Sahara in Morocco and also Somalia. It is one of several species called "jujube", and is closely related to '' ...

'' from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

region, and ber (''

Ziziphus mauritiana ''Ziziphus mauritiana'', also known as Indian jujube, Indian plum, Chinese date, Chinese apple, ber and dunks is a tropical fruit tree species belonging to the family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused with the closely related jujube, Chinese ju ...

''), which is found from western

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Etymology

The generic name is derived via classical

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

from Hellenistic

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, where it is presumed to have been borrowed from another language, perhaps from ''zizfum'' or ''zizafun'', the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word for '' Z. lotus''.

Ecology

''Ziziphus'' species are used as food plants by the

larvae A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect developmental biology, development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typical ...

of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species including '' Bucculatrix zizyphella'', which feeds exclusively on the genus, and ''

Endoclita malabaricus ''Endoclita malabaricus'' is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is known from the Western Ghats of India. At rest it looks like a dry leaf. The species overlaps in range with '' Endoclita magnus''. Adult moths are active particularly ...

''. Species are distributed throughout the world in tropical and warm temperate areas, from rain forests to deserts. Some species are evergreen, others are winter or drought

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. Species adapted to dry climates are smaller and have oleifera cells that produce a fragrant aroma.

Uses

The temperate ''Ziziphus jujuba'' (Chinese jujube) and the tropical ''

'' (Indian Jujube) are economically important fruit trees. In

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

(TCM), ''suan zao ren'' (''Ziziphus jujuba'') is considered to be sweet and sour in taste, and neutral in action. It is believed to nourish the heart yin, augment the liver blood, and calm the spirit (TCM medical terms). It is used to treat irritability,

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

and heart

palpitation Palpitations occur when a person becomes aware of their heartbeat. The heartbeat may feel hard, fast, or uneven in their chest. Symptoms include a very fast or irregular heartbeat. Palpitations are a sensory symptom. They are often described as ...

Mythology

The mythological

lotus tree The lotus tree (, ''lōtós'') is a plant that is referred to in stories from Greek and Roman mythology. The lotus tree is mentioned in Homer's '' Odyssey'' as bearing a fruit that caused a pleasant drowsiness, and which was said to be the only f ...

which occurs in

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' is often equated with '' Z. lotus''. The Islamic mythological lote tree of Seventh Heaven, the

Sidrat al-Muntaha The ''Sidrat al-Muntaha'' () in Islamic tradition is a large Cedrus or lote tree (''Ziziphus spina-christi'') that marks the utmost boundary in the seventh heaven, where the knowledge of the angels ends. During the Isra' and Mi'raj, when Muhamm ...

is often equated with either

Species

68 species are accepted. *'' Ziziphus abyssinica'' Hochst. ex A.Rich. – dry zones of tropical Africa *'' Ziziphus affinis'' *''

Ziziphus andamanica ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' *'' Ziziphus angustifolia'' *'' Ziziphus apetala'' Hook.f. ex M.A.Lawson *'' Ziziphus attopensis'' Pierre * ''

Ziziphus borneensis ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * ''

Ziziphus brunoniana ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * ''

Ziziphus budhensis ''Ziziphus budhensis'' is a species of plant in the family Rhamnaceae, endemic to the Temal region of Bagmati Province, Nepal. Description The tree grows to be eight to ten meters tall. It is dimorphic. The sterile branches have longer spines, ...

'' Bhattarai & Pathak – Central Nepal * ''

Ziziphus calophylla ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * ''

Ziziphus cambodiana ''Ziziphus cambodiana'' (, ) is a deciduous thorny shrub, or vine, some 2–6 m tall, found growing in Secondary forest, secondary undergrowth in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and northern Thailand. Distribution It occurs in Thailand in Sa Ka ...

'' – Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam * ''

Ziziphus colombiana ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * '' Ziziphus cotinifolia'' Reissek * '' Ziziphus crebrivenosa'' * ''

Ziziphus cumingiana ''Ziziphus cunmingiana'' is a liana native to the wet tropical biome of Borneo and Philippines. Description ''Ziziphus cunmingiana'' has ovate Ovate may refer to: * Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type ...

'' * ''

Ziziphus djamuensis ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * '' Ziziphus elegans'' * '' Ziziphus fungii'' Merr. * '' Ziziphus funiculosa'' Buch.-Ham. ex M.A.Lawson * '' Ziziphus glabrata'' * ''

Ziziphus globularis ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * '' Ziziphus guaranitica'' Malme * ''

Ziziphus hajarensis ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' Duling, Ghaz. & Prend. * '' Ziziphus hamur'' * ''

Ziziphus havilandii ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * ''

Ziziphus hoaensis ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * ''

Ziziphus horrida ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' Roth * '' Ziziphus horsfieldii'' * '' Ziziphus hutchinsonii'' – Philippines * ''

Ziziphus incurva ''Ziziphus incurva'' is a medium-sized tree from the family Rhamnaceae which gives edible fruit. It is found from 900 meters to 1600 meters altitude in eastern Nepal including Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, ...

'' Roxb. * ''

Ziziphus javanensis ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' Blume * ''

Ziziphus jujuba Jujube (UK ; US or ), sometimes jujuba, scientific name ''Ziziphus jujuba'', and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus '' Ziziphus'' in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused wit ...

'' Mill. – Jujube * '' Ziziphus kunstleri'' * '' Ziziphus laui'' Merr. * '' Ziziphus leucodermis'' * '' Ziziphus linnaei'' * ''

'' ( L.) Lam. – Mediterranean region * '' Ziziphus mairei'' Dode * ''

'' Lam. – widespread through Old World tropics and subtropics * '' Ziziphus melastomoides'' Pittier * '' Ziziphus montana'' W.W.Smith * ''

Ziziphus mucronata ''Ziziphus mucronata'', known as the buffalo thorn, is a species of tree in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern Africa. It is deciduous and may grow up to 17 metres tall. It can survive in a variety of soil types, occurring in many habitat ...

'' Willd. buffalo thorn – southern Africa * ''

Ziziphus nummularia ''Ziziphus nummularia'', commonly known as wild jujube or jharberi in Hindi, is a species of ''Ziziphus'' native to the Thar Desert of western India and southeastern Pakistan, south Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Zimbabwe. ''Ziziphus nummulari ...

'' (Burm.f.) Wight & Arn. –

Thar Desert The Thar Desert (), also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of in India and Pakistan. It is the world's 18th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-large ...

of India and Pakistan * '' Ziziphus oenopolia'' (L.) Mill. * '' Ziziphus otanesii'' * '' Ziziphus oxyphylla'' Edgew. * '' Ziziphus papuana'' * '' Ziziphus pernettyoides'' * '' Ziziphus poilanei'' Tardieu * '' Ziziphus pubescens'' * ''

Ziziphus pubinervis ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' Rehder * '' Ziziphus quadrilocularis'' F.Muell. – northern Australia * ''

Ziziphus ridleyana ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * '' Ziziphus rivularis'' * '' Ziziphus robertsoniana'' * ''

Ziziphus rubiginosa ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'' * '' Ziziphus rugosa'' * ''

'' (L.) Desf. * '' Ziziphus subquinquenervia'' * '' Ziziphus suluensis'' * '' Ziziphus talanae'' (

Blanco Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to: People *Blanco (surname) Fictional characters *Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth *Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' *Graboid#El Blanco, ...

) Merr. –

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

* '' Ziziphus timoriensis'' * '' Ziziphus trinervis'' (Cav.) Poir. * '' Ziziphus truncata'' Blatt. & Hallb. * '' Ziziphus williamii'' Bhandari & Bhansali * '' Ziziphus xiangchengensis'' Y.L.Chen & P.K.Chou * '' Ziziphus xylopyrus'' (Retz.) Willd. * '' Ziziphus zeyheriana'' : Other list sources:

Formerly placed here

* '' Condaliopsis obtusifolia'' – Lotebush (as '' Ziziphus obtusifolia'' (Hook. ex Torr. & A.Gray) A.Gray) * '' Pseudoziziphus celata'' (as '' Ziziphus celata'' Judd & Hall) * '' Pseudoziziphus parryi'' – Parry's Jujube (as ''Ziziphus parryi'' Torr.) *'' Sarcomphalus mistol'' (as ''

Ziziphus mistol ''Sarcomphalus mistol'' or mistol is a species of spiniferous shrub or tree of the family Rhamnaceae. It is native to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina in South America, and very abundant in parts of the Gran Chaco of northern Arge ...

'' Griseb.) * '' Ziziphus lloydi'' A.Gray

Fossil species

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

'' Ziziphus hyperboreus'' Heer (

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

fossil) *

'' Ziziphus wyomingianis''

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

(Tipperary,

Wind River Basin The Wind River Basin is a semi-arid intermontane foreland basin in central Wyoming, United States. It is bounded by Laramide orogeny, Laramide uplifts on all sides. On the west is the Wind River Range and on the North are the Absaroka Range and t ...

Wyoming, USA,

fossil) :† =

Extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

Gallery

File:Ziziphus zizyphus foliage.jpg, ''Ziziphus jujuba'' foliage File:Ziziphus jujuba MS 2461.JPG, Dried fruits (azufaifas) in southern Spain of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' File:Azufaifas (fcm).jpg, Azufaifas from

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

File:Indian jujube (fruit).jpg, ''

'' File:Ziziphus oenoplia W IMG 3626.jpg, '' Ziziphus oenoplia'' in

Shamirpet Shamirpet is a major revenue village panchayat, and also a suburb of Hyderabad city and district headquarters of Medchal-Malkajgiri district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is also the mandal headquarter of Shamirpet mandal in Keesara reve ...

Rangareddy district Ranga Reddy district is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district headquarters is located at Kongara Kalan Village, Ibrahimpatnam Mandal. The district was named after the former deputy chief minister of the United Andhra Prade ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, India File:Ziziphus oenoplia W2 IMG 3624.jpg, ''Ziziphus oenoplia'' in Shamirpet, Rangareddy district, Andhra Pradesh, India File:Ziziphus spina-Christi.jpg, ''

'' File:Ziziphus caracutta syn Z xylopyra (Ghatbor) in Vanasthalipuram, Hyderabad, AP W IMG 9259.jpg, '' Ziziphus xylopyrus'' in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, India File:Ziziphus caracutta syn Z xylopyra (Ghatbor) in Vanasthalipuram, Hyderabad, AP W IMG 9256.jpg, ''Ziziphus xylopyrus'' in Hyderabad, India File:Ziziphus caracutta syn Z xylopyra (Ghatbor) in Vanasthalipuram, Hyderabad, AP W IMG 9255.jpg, ''Ziziphus xylopyrus'' in Hyderabad, India File:Iran Zizyphus.JPG, Persian ''Zizyphus'' in Iran File:شکوفه درخت کنار، بهبهان.jpg, alt=Ziziphus Blossom in Behbahan, Iran, ''Ziziphus'' blossom in

Behbahan Behbahan () is a city in the Central District of Behbahan County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Etymology The origin of word 'Behbahan' can be traced back to two distinct ideas. Accord ...

, Iran File:میوه درخت کنار، بهبهان.jpg, alt=Ziziphus Fruit, Behbahan, Iran, ''Ziziphus''

, Behbahan, Iran

References

{{Authority control Rhamnaceae genera Taxa named by Philip Miller