THE CHINESE JUJUBE. 9 
The color of the fruit has not been discussed in these descriptions 
because it is not sufficiently distinct to be a varietal character. It 
varies at different stages of maturity; it first appears as reddish 
brown spots on the green fruit; these increase in size and finally 
merge. The color of the fruit becomes the most intense when these 
spots have all united ; it is then a dark chestnut brown. In the Mu 
Shing Hong variety (PL II) it is beautifully mottled. The fruit 
loses water and begins to wrinkle within a very few days after it 
has become fully colored. During this drying-out process the color 
changes and the dried fruit assumes a reddish brown that is less 
intense than that present when it first begins to ripen. 
The fleshy portion of the jujube fruit is drier than that of our 
common fruits. It does not vary sufficiently to become a varietal 
character. The flesh of the Li variety (PL V) is more crisp than 
that of the other three varieties, and not quite so dry. 
The varietal names are those sent in by Meyer in his notes, which 
were made at the time the scions were secured. In the Chinese lit- 
erature a large number of varietal names and descriptions appear. 
These have been brought together by W. T. Swingle, of the United 
States Department of Agriculture. Meyer found some of these in 
his field investigations, but the most of them remain yet to be 
studied in the orchards of China. 
The date of ripening varies greatly. In some portions of Texas 
and California the fruit begins to ripen early in August, while in 
others it does not begin to ripen until the first or middle of Septem- 
ber. The ripening period in a given locality continues for six or 
eight weeks, beginning with the fruit on the old wood and ending 
with that on the growth of the present year. 
All varieties of the jujube come into bearing at an early age. 
Frequently the young plants in a nursery row at less than one year 
bear fruit, and the second or third year after planting they yield 
abundantly. 
MU SHING HONG, S. P. I. NO. 22684.2 
This is an excellent variety (PL II). The fruit is of good size 
and shape and processes well. While trees of this variety do not 
bear as abundantly as some of the others, the fruit is very handsome 
and can be utilized in many ways. 
Source. — Tsingtze, Shansi Province. China. Scions secured by Frank N. 
Meyer, March 10, 1908. Size large, 1£ to If inches in greatest diameter ; form 
ellipsoidal, somewhat flattened at the ends, some fruits irregular; cavity 
regular, of medium depth, distinct areole about the cavity one-eighth of an inch 
from the insertion of the peduncle; basin regular, smooth and shallow; stone 
ellipsoidal, medium sized to large, three-fourths to li inches in length, three- 
eighths to 1* inches greatest diameter. In some fruits of this variety the 
usually bony portion of the stone does not harden, thus giving rise to what are 
termed seedless fruits. The stone has a strong acute tip at the distal end. 
LANG, S. P. I. NO. 22686. 
This is one of the very best varieties (PL III). It has a large 
pear-shaped fruit, which processes well. It produces an abundance 
of fruit and is one of the most readily propagated of all the varieties. 
- Serial number assigned by the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. 
5—24 3 
