Ziziphus nummularia Seeds | Wild Jujube
LATIN NAME: Ziziphus nummularia
COMMON NAME: Wild Jujube
Plant Profile
Wild Jujube (Ziziphus nummularia) grows as a spreading shrub in the buckthorn family. It likes sun, and deep, well-drained soil. It is the sort of plant that quietly justifies the space it occupies.
Science & Biotechnology
As part of the buckthorn family, Ziziphus nummularia contributes to research on plant classification and adaptation, while nurseries and gardeners continue to trial it for cultivation. Drought tolerance of wild jujube gives it a recognised place in research on hardy fruit shrubs of buckthorn family, and nummularia species appears in studies of arid-plain survival and fruit chemistry. For practical purposes the message is encouraging: generations of cultivation have produced plants of predictable, well-mannered garden character.
Uses & Benefits
Wild Jujube works well in borders, containers and dedicated beds. In dry garden, wild jujube coins branches with small round leaves. Sweet autumn fruits serve table, teas and preserves for generations, they feed birds, and thorny, tangled form holds soil and makes the barrier. It thrives in deep, well-drained, sunny ground. In later seasons it demands little more than an appreciative eye.
Jujube fruit, Da Zao, is among the most-used tonics in Chinese medicine and cuisine, sweet, calming and rich in vitamin C, while the sour seed, Suan Zao Ren, is the supreme Chinese herb for nourishing sleep, its jujubosides and spinosin widely studied.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of Wild Jujube under ordinary good conditions. Broadcast the seed thinly over a fine, free-draining compost, sieve a little more compost on top, and water with a fine rose. Move strong seedlings into individual pots, keep them in good light, and set them out when the weather and their size agree.
Our Take
Given the right start, Wild Jujube is a long-term garden companion. Once the young plants are away, there is little left to do but watch them grow.
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