Ziziphus jujuba Mill.

Trees small, rarely shrubs, deciduous, to 10 m tall, spinose or unarmed. Bark brown or gray-brown, with long reduced branches, without buds; branchlets (new branches) purple-red or gray-brown, flexuose, smooth, with 2 stipular spines or not; long spines erect, to 3 cm, stout; short spines recurved, developed from old branches; annual branchlets pendulous, green, solitary or 2-7-fascicled on short shoots. Stipular spines slender, caducous; petiole 1-6 mm, or to 1 cm on long shoots, glabrous or sparsely puberulent; leaf blade abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green, ovate, ovate-elliptic, or elliptic-oblong, 3-7 × 1.5-4 cm, papery, abaxially ± puberulent on major veins or glabrous, adaxially glabrous, 3-veined from base, base slightly asymmetric, subrounded, margin crenate-serrate, apex obtuse or rounded, rarely acute, mucronulate. Flowers yellow-green, bisexual, 5-merous, glabrous, solitary or 2-8 crowded in axillary cymes, shortly pedunculate. Pedicel 2-3 mm. Sepals ovate-triangular, adaxially distinctly keeled. Petals obovate, ca. as long as stamens, clawed at base. Disk orbicular, thick, fleshy, 5-lobed. Ovary basally slightly immersed in disk; style 2-cleft to half. Drupe red at maturity, turning red-purple, oblong or narrowly ovoid, 2-3.5 cm, (0.5-)1.5-2 cm in diam.; mesocarp fleshy, thick, sweet-or sour-tasting; stone acute or obtuse at both ends, 2-loculed, 1-or 2-seeded; fruiting pedicel 2-5 mm or longer. Seeds compressed-orbicular, ca. 1 × 0.8 cm, Fl. May-Jul, fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 24*, 36*, 48*.

A subtropical plant. It can stand high temperatures in summer then due to winter dormancy can tolerate very cold temperatures. It only requires a small winter chill to enable it to fruit. They do best in warm sunny positions. They cannot grow in shade. They do best in sandy well drained soils. They can grow in soils with high salinity or alkalinity. It can tolerate drought but fruits best with adequate rainfall. It grows on the Deccan in India. It grows in western Sudan. It suits hardiness zones 7-10. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

The fruit are eaten fresh, dried or preserved in sugar. They can be stewed, baked, pickled, or used in puddings, cakes, breads, jellies, soups and sweetmeats. The ripe fruit are powdered and cooked with millet or rice. The kernels are edible.

Plants can be grown from seed but these do not breed true. Grafting, budding or cuttings can be used. Root suckers can be used. Although cross pollination is not required for fruit production it is needed for producing viable seed. A spacing of 3-4 m is suitable.