Flora of North America species comparison

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Ziziphus jujuba

Ziziphus parryi

Chinese date, common jujuba, common jujube

California crucillo, lotebush, Parry's jujube, Parry's jujube or abrojo
Habit Shrubs or small trees, 2–12 m; secondary branches reddish, glabrescent, not thorn-tipped, axillary thorns absent; stipular spines usually present, straight or curving, 15–40 mm, solitary or paired, sometimes absent. Shrubs, 1–4 m; secondary branches pale greenish yellow to purplish, not pruinose, glabrous, thorn-tipped, axillary thorns solitary, with 0–1 nodes, without tertiary thorns, stipular spines absent.
Leaves

deciduous, alternate;

blade green abaxially, darker green and glossy adaxially, ovate to ovate-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, 3–6 cm, coriaceous, base oblique, margins crenate-serrate, apex usually obtuse to rounded, rarely acute, surfaces glabrous; 3-veined from base.

deciduous, alternate, sometimes fascicled;

blades olive green, elliptic to obovate, 1–2.5(–3) cm, herbaceous, base obtuse to rounded, margins entire, apex rounded to cuneate or shallowly emarginate, surfaces glabrous; 1-veined.
Inflorescences

cymes, 2–8-flowered, or rarely flowers solitary.

usually fascicles, 2–5-flowered, rarely flowers solitary.
Flowers

hypanthium and sepals yellow-green, petals pale yellow.

hypanthium and sepals purplish to greenish;

petals white.
Drupes

ripening through yellow-green to dark red or reddish purple, ellipsoid to narrowly ovoid, 15–20(–30) mm.

brownish to orange or purplish brown, ovoid to ellipsoid, 10–20(–25) mm.
2n

= 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 96.

Ziziphus jujuba

Ziziphus parryi
Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering (Feb–)Mar–May.
Habitat Old home and ranch sites, fencerows, fields, pastures, roadsides, weedy riparian woods, alluvial slopes. Chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodlands, rocky washes and arroyos, hill slopes.
Elevation 50–700 m. (200–2300 ft.) 600–1000(–1600) m. (2000–3300(–5200) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AZ; CA; FL; GA; LA; TX; UT; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The fruits of Ziziphus jujuba have a datelike taste and are eaten fresh, dried, candied, or preserved. Hundreds of cultivars have been developed in China. The spineless var. inermis (Bunge) Rehder sometimes is identified as a cultivar.

The species was first introduced to North America in 1837 and has spread widely. It is not always clear whether it is naturalized or persisting from earlier plantings.

The name Ziziphus zizyphus (Linnaeus) H. Karsten, sometimes used for this species, is a tautonym and therefore illegitimate.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Ziziphus parryi is known in the flora area only from Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties, but the distribution continues southward in Baja California as far as Cedros Island. Small-leaved plants from southern Baja California have been identified as Z. parryi var. microphylla, but similar variants occur sporadically into California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 72. FNA vol. 12, p. 72.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ziziphus Rhamnaceae > Ziziphus
Sibling taxa
Z. celata, Z. divaricata, Z. mauritiana, Z. obtusifolia, Z. parryi
Z. celata, Z. divaricata, Z. jujuba, Z. mauritiana, Z. obtusifolia
Synonyms Rhamnus zizyphus Condalia parryi, Condalia parryi var. microphylla, Condaliopsis parryi, Z. parryi var. microphylla
Name authority Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Ziziphus no. 1. (1768) — name conserved Torrey: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 46. (1859) — (as Zizyphus)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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