Dragon Claw Jujube is a gnarled and vigorous plant for winter branch appreciation
Dragon Claw Jujube, also known as Dragon Whisker Jujube, Dragon Jujube, Dragon Wandering Jujube, and Bent Jujube, gets its name because its branches twist and coil in the shape of dragon claws. It is an ornamental variety with a uniquely shaped branch structure in the jujube family. Its tree form is graceful, with lush green leaves in summer, beautiful red fruits in autumn, and especially after leaf drop in winter, the twisted branches resemble a flock of dancing dragons, standing out uniquely among various ornamental flowering trees and shrubs. Dragon Claw Jujube can be planted in parks, plazas, courtyards or residential communities, and can also be grown in containers for appreciation or made into bonsai. Its rugged and vigorous form can also be used as auxiliary material for flower arrangements and floral art.
Dragon Claw Jujube is a deciduous shrub of the genus Ziziphus in the family Rhamnaceae. The plant is short, with a gray trunk, longitudinally fissured old bark, and young branches that are greenish-green, turning yellow-brown after lignification and gradually becoming purplish-red. It has small gray needle-like thorns and tends to form knobs at the bud nodes. The trunk and branches all grow in a twisted manner, and even the petioles and leaf blades grow twisted. The fruit is relatively small, cylindrical, slightly curved, and the fruit surface is also uneven and twisted. The fruit skin is thick, and after maturing in late September it turns red, but the quality is poor and it is not suitable for eating. Its flowering and fruit-setting rates are also poor.
Dragon Claw Jujube prefers a warm, humid environment with plenty of sunlight. It is cold-resistant and afraid of waterlogging. It has low requirements for soil, but grows better in loose, fertile soil. It should be planted in a place with sufficient sunlight and good air circulation. Potted plants should also be kept in a sunny place for care. If there is insufficient light, it will affect the plant's development and cause the branches to grow excessively. The branches and trunk of Dragon Claw Jujube naturally bend and twist, so it can be shaped. After leaf drop in autumn, remove overly dense branches, weak branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, and other branches that affect the tree shape, so that they are distributed reasonably and a certain amount of space is left between branches to facilitate ventilation and light penetration inside the plant and achieve an attractive tree shape. In summer, pay attention to pinching, bud removal, and branch thinning to maintain the beauty of the tree shape.
Dragon Claw Jujube is mainly propagated by grafting. The rootstock can be seedlings of sour jujube or division seedlings and root-sucker seedlings of other jujube varieties. In spring, select one-year-old well-developed "primary shoot of the jujube head" as the scion and graft by cleft grafting or cut grafting. Bud grafting can also be carried out during the flowering period.