What Does the Common Jujube Look Like? A Full Breakdown of Its Morphological Characteristics

The common jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) originated in China. It is a deciduous tree that can reach about 10 m in height. Its fruit is a drupe, and its shape varies by cultivar, including ovate, elliptical, short cylindrical, round, and gourd-shaped, with thick flesh and a sweet taste. This species has three varieties: (1) Thornless jujube, which has weak growth vigor, with the thorns on the growing branches completely degenerated; (2) Dragon-thorn jujube, which has weak growth vigor and twisted branches, like a dragon climbing a willow, hence it is also called dragon jujube or dragon-claw jujube. Its peel-to-fruit ratio is very low and its quality is poor, so it is mostly grown as an ornamental tree; (3) Gourd jujube: the fruit has a constriction at the middle or upper-middle part, appearing gourd-shaped or bottleneck-shaped, and it is not widely cultivated.