Flora of North America species comparison

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Ziziphus parryi

Ziziphus mauritiana

California crucillo, lotebush, Parry's jujube, Parry's jujube or abrojo

Indian jujube
Habit 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. Shrubs or small trees, 3–10(–15) m; secondary branches white-silvery to grayish, becoming brown, tomentose, glabrescent, not thorn-tipped, axillary thorns absent; stipular spines usually present, straight or recurving, 2–3 mm, solitary or paired, sometimes absent.
Leaves

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.

persistent, alternate;

blade whitish to tawny abaxially, dark green adaxially, oblong to elliptic or elliptic-ovate, 2.5–8 cm, base obtuse to rounded, usually oblique, margins serrulate, apex rounded, abaxial surface tomentose, adaxial surface glabrous; 3-veined from base.
Inflorescences

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

cymes, 2–8-flowered.
Flowers

hypanthium and sepals purplish to greenish;

petals white.

hypanthium and sepals greenish to greenish white;

petals white.
Drupes

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

ripening from yellow or orange to red or reddish brown, globose to ovoid or oblong, 20–30 cm.
2n

= 24.

Ziziphus parryi

Ziziphus mauritiana
Phenology Flowering (Feb–)Mar–May. Flowering summer.
Habitat Chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodlands, rocky washes and arroyos, hill slopes. Disturbed sites, thicket edges, rockland hammocks.
Elevation 600–1000(–1600) m. (2000–3300(–5200) ft.) 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; c Asia; se Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in West Indies (Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico), Europe, elsewhere in Asia, Africa, Indian Ocean Islands (Seychelles Islands), Pacific Islands (Fiji, Hawaii, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Florida records for Ziziphus mauritiana are from Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Reports of the species from California (that is, USDA Plants Database) presumably refer to Z. jujuba.

Ziziphus mauritiana is a major commercial fruit-producing species in India with many cultivars varying in fruiting season and in fruit form, size, color, flavor, and keeping quality. The fruit is rich in vitamin C and is eaten raw, pickled, or used in beverages.

The illegitimate name Ziziphus jujuba (Linnaeus) Gaertner is sometimes used for this species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 72. FNA vol. 12, p. 73.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ziziphus Rhamnaceae > Ziziphus
Sibling taxa
Z. celata, Z. divaricata, Z. jujuba, Z. mauritiana, Z. obtusifolia
Z. celata, Z. divaricata, Z. jujuba, Z. obtusifolia, Z. parryi
Synonyms Condalia parryi, Condalia parryi var. microphylla, Condaliopsis parryi, Z. parryi var. microphylla Rhamnus jujuba
Name authority Torrey: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 46. (1859) — (as Zizyphus) Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 3: 319. (1789)
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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