From the
Tropical Fruit News, Rare Fruit Council International Miami RFCI
by Gene Joyner
Indian Jujube
The Indian Jujube, Zizyphus mauritiana,
is a beautiful evergreen tree up to forty feet or more from the Asian
Tropics. The dark, rounded green leaves are very attractive and they
have a light undersurface which is almost white. When the leaves
flutter in the wind, the tree has a very attractive appearance.
The
flowers are yellowish white, borne in clusters along the leafaxils and
this is shortly followed by the rounded fruit which can be anywhere
from three quarters of an inch to an inch and a half in size. A layer
of edible pulp surrounds the hard central stone and the fruits vary
considerable in thickness and quality of the pulp.
At maturity,
fruits are generally light yellowish orange to almost brown in color.
Many people say that when these are eaten fresh, they have flavor
somewhat resembling that of a green apple. Older fruits which have been
allowed to sit for a few days before being eaten often will have a
flavor almost like a date.
Trees are easily propagated by seeds,
however, seedlings take two to three years to start fruit production.
Superior varieties can be air layered or grafted, but be careful
because this tree does have quite formidable small spines. When pruning
trees, one has to be very careful about coming in contact with the
short spines along the stems.
Trees grow well over a wide
variety of soil types and seem to have very few insect problems. In wet
weather, however, leaf diseases my attack the foliage, causing it to be
brown or black spotted and unattractive for brief periods.
Trees
should be fertilized two to three times a year with a good quality
complete fertilizer for good growth and fruiting and the heaviest fruit
production occurs during the early spring months. Often trees will
bloom again during the late summer or early fall and have a second crop
during autumn as well.
If one has an abundance of fruit, it can be frozen for long periods without any deterioration of quality.
Mature
trees are quite cold hardy and can withstand temperatures down into the
upper twenties without serious cold damage. Young trees, though, need
to be protected at 32 degrees F.
A close relative, the Chinese jujube (Z jujuba),
is often planted in Florida, but is better adapted for temperate rather
than tropical climates. the quality of the fruit, however, with the
Chinese jujube is much improved over the Indian jujube. Some selection
and breeding work is currently being done on the Chinese jujube and
hopefully varieties will be found that will be adapted for more
tropical conditions.
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