0333 



JUJUBE TREE. 



Family: RHAMNACEAE. 



Reproductive system: PENTANDRY, DlGYNY. 



The cultivated jujube tree, Rhamnus ziziphus, Linn., [Translator's note: now 

 Ziziphus jujuba] is a beautiful tree that rises thirty or forty feet high. The trunk is twisted 

 and covered with slightly cracked brown bark. The large number of branches have a pair 

 of thorns of unequal length at their base. They're full of smooth, oval-oblong leaves that 

 have three distinct veins and dentate margins. The flowers are small, yellowish, axillary, 

 and are held on short peduncles. The calyx has five divisions; the corolla has five petals 

 that alternate with the divisions of the calyx. The five stamens, opposite the petals, are 

 inserted on a disk that surrounds an ovary crowned with two styles. The fruit is an ovoid 

 drupe that's red when it's ripe. Its flesh covers a pointed pit with two compartments and 

 two seeds. 



FLOWERS: July and August. 



RANGE: Syria. It was brought from there to Rome by Sextus Pomponius in the 

 time of Augustus. Later it spread over all of Italy and from there to Provence, where it is 

 now naturalized. 



NOMENCLATURE. German, die brustbeere. English, the jujube tree. Spanish, 

 azitfayfo. Portuguese, anafegfa. Turkish, unap. Dialect of the south of France, 

 chichourlier, guindoulier. Arabic, zizouf. 



USES. The wood of the jujube tree is hard, heavy, and reddish in color. It polishes 

 up beautifully, and it's used in lathe work. The fruit has quite a pleasant flavor. It's 

 consumed in the south of France, but only the dried fruit is used medicinally. The jujube 

 fruit is good for respiratory diseases and is a soothing agent. It's prescribed for coughin 

 up blood and for pain in the urinary tract. As a decoction it's given 



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