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Ziziphus mauritiana
Also called Chinese Date, Indian Plum, Chinese Apple, Chinee Apple, Indian Cherry, Common Jujube, Cottony Jujube
In Singapore: Indian Jujube, Cottony Jujube, Ber, Apple Siam, Bedara, Bedara China (Grown in Singapore)
Indian jujube is a spiny, drought-hardy tropical tree or shrub grown for its sweet, edible fruit, usually in hot, seasonally dry climates. It is one species of the Ziziphus genus in the buckthorn family, not a genus-level entry.
Ziziphus mauritiana, also known as Indian jujube, Indian plum, Chinese apple, ber (Hindi: बेर) and dunks, is a tropical, spiny, evergreen shrub or small tree in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused with the closely related Chinese jujube (Z. jujuba): Z. mauritiana is common in tropical and subtropical climates, while Z. jujuba prefers temperate climates.
The plant grows vigorously up to 12 metres (39 ft) high, with a trunk 30 centimetres (12 in) or more in diameter. It has a spreading crown with stipular spines and drooping branches. The fruit is oval, obovate, oblong or round, and can be 2.5–6 centimetres (0.98–2.36 in) long depending on the variety, having smooth, light green skin when unripe, turning yellow and then reddish brown as it ripens.
Propagation is best done by seed, grafting or cuttings. The seeds are spread by birds, livestock, feral pigs, humans and other mammals. Seeds may remain viable for over two years, but the germination rate decreases with age. Cross-incompatibility occurs, and cultivars have to be matched for good fruit set; some cultivars produce good crops parthenocarpically.
In India, there are 90 or more cultivars varying in growth habit, leaf shape, fruiting season, and fruit form, size, colour, flavour and storage quality. Among the important cultivars, 11 are described in the encyclopaedic Wealth of India: Banarasi (or Banarsi) Pewandi, Dandan, Kaithli (Patham), Muria Mahrara, Narikelee, Nazuk, Sanauri 1, Sanauri 5, Thornless and Umran (Umri). Most of the cultivars have smooth and greenish-yellow to yellow skin.
This hardy tree can withstand extreme temperatures and thrives in rather dry or water-logged conditions with an annual rainfall of 125–2,225 millimetres (4.9–87.6 in). In Fiji, naturalised trees grow along roadsides and on agricultural land, usually near sea level but occasionally up to an elevation of 600 metres (2,000 ft). It also grows well on laterite soils with good drainage, or sandy, gravelly, alluvial soil of dry riverbeds. In Australia, this species grows on a wide variety of soil types, including cracking clays, solodic soils and deep alluvials, in tropical and subtropical areas with an average annual rainfall of 470–1,200 millimetres (19–47 in). In the drier parts of this range, it grows best in riparian zones. Commercial cultivation usually extends up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). Above this elevation, the trees do not grow well, and cultivation becomes less economical.
Jujube · Lotus · Buffalo thorn · Jujube · Jackal Jujube · Wrinkled Jujube · Christ's thorn · Jujube
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ziziphus mauritiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
