Ziziphus

Encyclopedia : Z : ZI : ZIZ : Ziziphus

Ziziphus 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 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 long, often very sweet and sugary, reminiscant of a date in texture and flavour.

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.

The Jujube (Z. zizyphus) is the best known species. Other species include Z. spinachristi from southwestern Asia, Z. lotus from the Mediterranean region, and Ber (Z. mauritiana), which is found from western Africa to India. Ziziphus joazeiro grows in the Caatinga of Brasil.

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. The Indian name of Ziziphus is ber.

References

Wikispecies has information related to:

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.