Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Divisio: Magnoliophyta
Classis: Magnoliopsida
Ordo: Rosales
Familia: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Ziziphus
Species: Z. angolito - Z. apetala - Z. attopensis - Z. celata - Z. cotinifolia - Z. fungii - Z. funiculosa - Z. glabarrima - Z. havanensis - Z. horrida - Z. incurva - Z. joazeiro - Z. joazfiro - Z. laui - Z. lotus - Z. mairei - Z. mauritiana - Z. melastomoides - Z. mexicana - Z. mistol - Z. montana - Z. mucronata - Z. nummularia - Z. obtusifolia - Z. oenoplia - Z. oxyphylla - Z. parryi - Z. platyphylla - Z. pubinervis - Z. reticulata - Z. rignonii - Z. rugosa - Z. saeri - Z. spina-christi - Z. spinosa - Z. taylorii - Z. trinervia - Z. undulata - Z. xiangchengensis - Z. xylopyrus - Z. zizyphus

Name

Ziziphus Tourn. ex L.

Vernacular names
Internationalization
العربية: سدر جبلي
Esperanto: Zizifo
Français: Jujubier
Русский: Зизифус
Tiếng Việt: Chi Táo ta

Ziziphus (pronounced /ˈzɪzɨfəs/)[3] is a genus of about 40 species of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, distributed in the warm-temperate and subtropical regions throughout the world. The leaves are alternate, entire, with three prominent basal veins, and 2–7 cm (0.79–2.8 in) long; some species are deciduous, others evergreen. The flowers are small, inconspicuous yellow-green. The fruit is an edible drupe, yellow-brown, red, or black, globose or oblong, 1–5 cm (0.39–2.0 in) long, often very sweet and sugary, reminiscent of a date in texture and flavour.

Well known species includes Z. zizyphus (Jujube), Z. spina-christi from southwestern Asia, Z. lotus from the Mediterranean region, and Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana), which is found from western Africa to India. Ziziphus joazeiro grows in the Caatinga of Brazil.

The generic name is derived from zizfum or zizafun, the Persian word for Z. lotus.[4]

Selected species

* Ziziphus angolito Standl.
* Ziziphus apetala Hook.f. ex M.A.Lawson
* Ziziphus attopensis Pierre
* Ziziphus celata Judd & Hall (Florida, USA)
* Ziziphus cotinifolia Reissek
* Ziziphus fungii Merr.
* Ziziphus funiculosa Buch.-Ham. ex M.A.Lawson
* Ziziphus guaranitica Malme
* Ziziphus havanensis Kunth
* Ziziphus horrida Roth
* Ziziphus hutchinsonii (Philippines)
* Ziziphus incurva Roxb.
* Ziziphus joazeiro Mart.
* Ziziphus laui Merr.
* Ziziphus lotus (L.) Lam. (Mediterranean region)
* Ziziphus mairei Dode
* Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. (Widespread through Old World tropics and subtropics)
* Ziziphus melastomoides Pittier
* Ziziphus mexicana Rose
* Ziziphus mistol Griseb. (Gran Chaco of South America)
* Ziziphus montana W.W.Smith
* Ziziphus mucronata Willd. – Buffalo Thorn (Southern Africa)
* Ziziphus nummularia (Burm.f.) Wight & Arn. (Thar Desert of South Asia)
* Ziziphus obtusifolia (Hook. ex Torr. & A.Gray) A.Gray – Lotebush
* Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) Mill.
* Ziziphus oxyphylla Edgew.
* Ziziphus parryi Torr. – Parry's Jujube
* Ziziphus platyphylla Reissek
* Ziziphus quadrilocularis F.Muell. (Northern Australia)
* Ziziphus robertsoniana
* Ziziphus rugosa
* Ziziphus saeri Pittier
* Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf.
* Ziziphus talanai (Blanco) Merr. (Philippines)
* Ziziphus trinervia (Cav.) Poir.
* Ziziphus undulata Reissek
* Ziziphus xiangchengensis Y.L.Chen & P.K.Chou
* Ziziphus xylopyrus (Retz.) Willd.
* Ziziphus zizyphus L. H.Karst. – Jujube

List Sources : [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Formerly placed here

* Berchemia floribunda (Wall.) Brongn. (as Z. floribunda Wall.)[6]

Ecology

Ziziphus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bucculatrix zizyphella, which feeds exclusively on the genus, and Endoclita malabaricus.
Uses and mythology

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), suan zao ren (Ziziphus spinosa) is considered to be sweet and sour in taste, and neutral in action. It is believed to nourish the heart yin, augment the liver blood, and calm the spirit (TCM medical terms). It is used to treat irritability, insomnia and heart palpitations.

The mythological lotus tree is often equated with Z. lotus, though the Date Palm is also a possible candidate.
Sources and notes

1. ^ "Ziziphus Mill.". TROPICOS. Missouri Botanical Database. http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40028635. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
2. ^ "Ziziphus Mill.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2004-02-10. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?13055. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
3. ^ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
4. ^ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. 4 R-Z. Taylor & Francis US. p. 2876. ISBN 978-0-8493-2678-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=2ndDtX-RjYkC&.
5. ^ "Query Results for Genus Ziziphus". IPNI . Retrieved August 7, 2009.
6. ^ a b "GRIN Species Records of Ziziphus". GRIN. USDA . http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?13055. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
7. ^ "Classificação segundo a Flora brasiliensis" (in Portuguese). Flora brasiliensis . http://florabrasiliensis.cria.org.br/search?taxon_id=10489. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
8. ^ "Ziziphus species list". Flora of China. EFloras . http://www.efloras.org/browse.aspx?flora_id=3&start_taxon_id=135333. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
9. ^ The Biodiversity Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (eds.) (2008). "Genus Ziziphus". Beijing, China: Catalogue of Life China: 2008 Annual Checklist China . http://csvh.org/cnnode/browse_taxa.php?selected_taxon=11405. Retrieved September 9, 2009. [dead link]
10. ^ "Flora Europaea: Ziziphus query results". Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh . http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Ziziphus&SPECIES_XREF=&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK=. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
11. ^ "Ziziphus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=28594. Retrieved 2010-03-08.

* USDA Plants Profile: Ziziphus