Ziziphus jujuba ~ Chinese Jujube, Chinese Date
Ziziphus jujuba was growing in my grandparents garden as I was growing up. Jujube's were a fruit sweet as candy. So I was pretty surprised to see the comercial candy in a box. The Jujube trees are winter deciduous. Many varieties have thorns. There are early, mid and late season varieties. The fruit of the Jujube ranges from the size of a cherry to the size of a plum, depending on the variety. One variety has a zig zag pattern to the branches making for an interesting silouette. The fruit is eaten dried much like raisins or grapes. The fruit can be candied, and the resulting left over syrup used on pancakes or waffles. With California conditions Ziziphus jujuba revels in the heat, requires very little additional water to survive. Good fruit quality requires some water though. Ziziphus jujuba requires no extra fertilizer. Jujube trees often sucker around the base. This is either a great opportunity to make trees for friends or a nuisance trimming somewhat spiny suckers. The greatest limiting factor is low winter temperatures. Depending on the variety Jujube trees can be damaged when temperatures dip into the high 20°'s
Ripening fruit of Ziziphus jujuba - Chinese Jujube. High resolution photos are part of our garden image collection.
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