THE JUJUBE TREE. 75 



australis is a South European tree : it tlrerefore did well 

 in Rome and ripened its cherr^--like stone-fruits "gusto 

 suavi non ingrato", which are at first red and turn black. 

 Celtis belongs to the Elm family, while the genus Zyzi- 

 phus belongs to the Rhamnaceae. The fruits of Zyziphiis 

 Lotus are as large as sloes, and the meah- substance 

 which surrounds the stone can be used for making bread 

 and also for the preparation of a fermented beverage. 

 The favourite Jujubes of commerce were formerh' made 

 from the fruits of other species, especialh' from those of 

 Zyziphiis vulgaris, a small S\'rian tree, and of Z. Ju/uba 

 which comes from India. According to tradition the Crown 

 of Thorns was made from the strongly armed Zyziphus 

 Spina Christi, the "Nebeg" or "Ssidr", which is widely 

 distributed in the V'^ale of Jordan, and round the Dead 

 Sea. The spinous Glcditschia, cultivated in our Northern 

 gardens, is called "Christ's iVcacia" in Gcrman^• and has 

 been also mentioned in connection with the Crown of 

 Thorns. This however involves a gross anachronism, 

 for the Gleditschias were brought to Europe from North 

 America as late as the eighteenth ccTitury. Plants of the 

 Genus Zyziphus lose their leaves in winter; but the}- deck 

 themselves earh^ with their ver}' dark green foliage. The 

 twie-s are slender and pendulous, and when the fruits 

 turn red, the effect is ver)- graceful. ^ 



The plant from which we obtain the Capers, Cap- 

 paris spinosa'l^{F\g. p. 65) is a handsome shrub. It may 

 be found all along the Riviera on rocks and old^walls 

 but is met with in still greater profusion on the North 

 African coast. It flow ers in summer, when the thin, droop- 



