8 BULLETIN 1215, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Ziziphus ortusifolia Gray, 1849, Genera Flor. Illustr. II, 170. 
Rhamnus oUusifolia Hooker, 1840, ex. T. & G. Fl. N. A. I, 685. 
A somewhat thorny, smooth shrub with whitish branches and leaves ovate 
or oblong-ovate, obscurely toothed or sometimes with distant, rather con- 
spicuous teeth, shining above, varying from 1 to 2 inches in length and one- 
half to 1 inch in width, the bases characteristically broad and straight, giving 
the leaf a triangular outline; flowers in compact clusters; fruit subglobose, 
small, black. This is a native of dry plains in Texas; called lote bush or 
Texas buckthorn. 
Ziziphus lycioides A. Gray. 1850, Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist. VI. 
Closely similar to the preceding, except that the leaves average smaller, 
and instead of being truncated' at the base they taper gradually to the 
Leafstalk, the margins wholly or almost enl re in mature specimens hairy 
at the base and on the leafstalk; the long straight leafy thorns abundant (fig. 
3) ; flower stalk and calyx soft hairy. 
The fruit is small and not very palatable, but the species may 
be of value as a stock in certain sections. It is native to the South- 
western States. The variety canescens A. Gray has the branches, 
thorns, and leaves covered with a whitish or even pinkish bloom, 
similar to that often seen on stonecrop (Sedum), and the whole 
shrub is somewhat thornier, with smaller leaves. It is a variety 
found in the drier situations. 
Ziziphus parryi Torr., 1859, Rep. U. S. & Mex. Bound. Surv. Bot. II, 
Part 1, 46. 
A shrub 4 to 6 feet high, much branched, the branches smooth, ilexuous, 
armed with numerous slender, leafy spines; leaves two-thirds to 1 inch long, 
obtuse, abruptly tapering to a short leafstalk. Fruits one-half to two-thirds 
of an inch long, with an abrupt point, lemon yellow, the pulp very thin ; nut 
shell extremely thick and hard ; seeds narrowly oblong. This plant, a native 
of southern California, has a nearly dry, 3-celled fruit and extremely thick 
shell. 
Ziziphus sonorensis S. Wats., 1889, Proc. Amer. Acad., new ser. xvi, 44. 
A shrub 5 to 8 feet high with smooth grayish bark and compact top ; short 
rigid branches, very thorny; leaves neariy smooth, thin, ovate to ovate- 
elliptic, obtuse, slightly heart-shaped or wedge-shaped at base, almost or 
wholly entire on the margins, 1 to 2 inches long: fruit subglobose, reddish 
brown when ripe, about half an inch long, edible. This species is common in 
northern Mexico, frequently in brackish water, and for that reason it may 
prove of value as a stock in regions distinctly alkaline. 
VARIETIES. 
A great many introductions of the Chinese jujube have been made 
by the Department of Agriculture in the last 25 years, most of them 
by means of seeds. Meyer succeeded in getting scions of several 
different varieties. Most of these were successfully propagated upon 
their arrival in the United States, and it is from these that the best 
and largest fruited varieties have been secured. 
Some of these varieties resemble others very closely in size, shape, 
and quality, and so tar as our present information is concerned have 
no outstanding merit. In some cases the size or shape of the fruit 
is such as to render it undesirable; in others the shape of the stone 
is objectionable. After considering the desirable qualities of all 
the varieties, four have been selected as being distinctly superior 
to any of the others. 
It seems best to limit the distribution to these four varieties for 
the present, since they have all the desirable characters to be found 
in the varieties we now have and are the largest. If future investi- 
gation reveals superior qualities in some of the undescribed varieties, 
they can then be described, propagated, and distributed. 
