Ziziphus

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Ziziphus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/ziziphus/). Accessed 2024-11-01.

Family

  • Rhamnaceae

Glossary

alternate
Attached singly along the axis not in pairs or whorls.
axillary
Situated in an axil.
drupe
A fleshy dehiscent or indehiscent fruit with one to several seeds each enclosed in a hard endocarp (the stone).
perfect
(botanical) All parts present and functional. Usually referring to both androecium and gynoecium of a flower.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Ziziphus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/ziziphus/). Accessed 2024-11-01.

Ziziphus has some forty species of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, natives mainly of tropical and warm temperate regions. Leaves alternate, three- or five-nerved from the base, stipules present, usually converted into spines. Flowers small, perfect, in axillary cymes. Petals five. Stamens five, opposite the petals. Fruit an edible, fleshy drupe; stone with usually two seeds.

The generic name derives from the ancient Greek word for Z. jujuba. It is sometimes wrongly spelt “Zizyphus”.

From the Supplement (Vol.V)

The generic name was spelt as above by Miller, its author. It is of no relevance that Linnaeus named the type-species Rhamnus zizyphus, since names do not have priority outside their own rank. No doubt it explains, however, why the spelling ‘Zizyphus’ has been generally used by botanists for the generic name. See further below.