gr 



fru 



526 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICKTUM. PART III. 



a 3. Z. SPI V NA-CHRI'ST/ Willd. Christ's Thorn Jujube. 



Identification. Willd. Spec., 1. p. 1105. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 20. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 24. 



Synonymes. tfhamnus spina-Chri^ti Lin. Spec., 282., Desf. Fl Atl., 1. p. 201. /I'hamnus Nabeca 

 Forsk. JEgypt, 204., but not of Lin.; Z. africana Mill. Diet., No. 4..; Z. ;N<rpecft Lam. Dirt., 

 3. p. 320. ; \adca Alp. Eg., 2. t. 4. p. 10. ; CEnoplia spinbsa Bauh. Pin., 477. Ger. Emac. Append., 

 t 1605. ; Christkronen Judendorn, Ger. 



Engravings. Alp. Eg., 2. t. 4. p. 10. ; Ger. Emac. Append., t. 1605. 



Spec. Char., SfC. Leaves ovate, obtuse, toothed, glabrous, or, beneath, pubescent. Prickles twin, 

 spreading, one straight, the other rather incurved. Flowers disposed upon peduncles, that are 

 corymbosely divided, and villosely tomentose. Drupes ovate-globose. Inhabits the north of 

 Africa and Palestine. (Dec. P)od.,\\. p. 20.) A deciduous shrub, growing to the height of Sit. 

 in the north of Africa, in Palestine, in Ethiopia, and in Ejypt. Introduced in 1759. The flowers 

 are yellowish green ; the fruit oblong, about the .size of a sloe, with a pleasant subacic) taste, and 

 used as food by the inhabitants of Egypt and Arabia. Hosselquist thinks that this is the tree 

 from which the crown of thorns was taken which was put on the head of our Saviour during the 

 crucifixion ; but the more general op'-nion is in favour of Paiiunis aculeatus. Linna-us raised it 

 from seeds sent by Hasselquist, and Miller cultivated it, in 17.5i), from seeus ; but we have never 

 seen the plant, and do not know whether it is now to be procured in England. 



Variety. 



at Z. S. 2 mermis Dec. Prod., ii. p. 20. This has no prickles, and its 

 leaves are larger, and very obtuse. 

 4. Z. INCU'RVA Roxb. The incurvcd-spined Jujube. 



Identification. Roxb. Fl. Ind., 2. p. 334. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 20. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 25. 



Synonyme. Z. paniculata Haniilt. MSS. 



Spec. Char., fyc. I/eaves oval, obtusely acuminate, crenulate. 5-nerved, oblique at the base. Petioles 

 and nerves pubescent. Prickles solitary, or twin, with one incurved. Flowers with the style parted 

 half-way down, disposed in bifid peduncled cymes. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 20.) A tree growing to the 

 height of 20 ft. ; a native of Upper Nepal, and introduced in 1823. The flowers are of a yellowish 



Seen, and appear in August and September : they are succeeded by small, round, dark purple 

 nit We have never seen the plant. 



* 5. Z. FLEXUO V SA Wall. The flexible Jujube. 



Identification. Wall, in FL Ind., 2. p. 355. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 25. 



Spec. Char., $c. A smooth shrub, with spiny flexible branches, and unarmed straight branchlets. 

 Prickles twin, one very long and straight, the other recurved. Leaves lanceolate, obtuse, crenate, 

 smooth. Flowers axillary, usually solitary. Style deeply bifid. (Don's Mill., ii. p. 25.) A native 

 of Nepal, where it grows to the height of 8ft. It is considered an elegant plant, with mahogany- 

 coloured prickles, and solitary yellowish flowers, rather large. It was introduced in 1820; but we 

 have not seen the plant. 



App. i. Half-hardy Species ofTjizyplms already introduced. 



Z. "Lotus Lam., the Jhamnus Z.blus of Linnaeus, (Deaf. Act. 

 Par., 1788, t. 21.; Shaw's Afr., No. 652. f. 632.; and our Jig. 194.) the 

 lotos of the Lotophagi, is a deciduous shrub, from 3ft. to 4ft. in 

 height, of considerable interest, and eminently deserving of a 

 place against a conservative wall. It is a native of Persia, and 

 of the interior of Africa, especially of the kingdom of Tunis, in a 

 tract called Jereed, which was formerly the country of the Lo- 

 tophagi. It has the habit of the .ffhamnu?, and the flowers of 

 the common jujube ; but the fruits are smaller, rounder, and 

 sweeter, being about the size of sloes, and containing large 

 stones : they are borne on every part of the plant like goose- 

 berries, and have a purplish tinge. The farinaceous pulp is se- 

 parated from the stone, and laid by for winter use. Its flavour 

 approaches nearly to that of figs or dates. A kind of wine is 

 made from the fruit by expressing the juice, and diluting it 

 with water ; but it will not keep more than a few days. The 

 natives of some parts of Africa convert the fruits into a sort of 

 bread, by exposing them for some days to the sun, and after- 

 wards pounding them gently in a wooden mortar, until the 

 farinaceous part is separated from the stones. The meal 

 thus produced is then mixed with a little water, and formed into cakes, which, when dried in 

 the sun, resemble in colour and flavour the sweetest gingerbread. The stones are afterwards put 

 into a vessel of water, and shaken about, so as to separate the farina which may still adhere to them. 

 This communicates a sweet and agreeable taste to the water ; and, with the addition of a little pounded 

 millet, it forms a pleasant liquor, called fondi, which is the common breakfast, in many parts of 

 Ludamar, during the months of February and March. The fruit is collected by spreading a cloth 

 upon the ground, and beating the branches with a stick. The lotos of the Lotophagi must not be 

 confounded with the Egyptian lotos, which is the A'ymphaj'a 7.6tus ; with the lotos of Homer and Dios- 

 corides, which is a species of rrifolium ; with the lotos of Hippocrates, which is the Celtis australis ; 

 or with the Italian lotos, which is the Diospyros Lbtus. (Don's Mill., ii., p. 24.) Plants of this species 

 were introduced into Britain in 1731 ; but they are rarely to be met with, and, when they are, they 

 are treated as frany? plants. Plants might probably be obtained from Italy, or from the French colo- 

 nial garden at Algiers. 



Z. nitida Roxb. is a native of China, introduced in 1822. The fruit is 1 in. long, pale yellow when 

 ripe, and edible ; the root produces innumerable suckers, which run to a great distance from the 



