JUJUBE -
Zizyphus jujube and Zizyphus spinosa.
Medicinal:
Jujube
is known from Arabia to the Orient. The fruits are used
as a tonic for the lungs and kidneys and as a good blood
cleanser. The Chinese use jujube to tone
the spleen and stomach, strengthen digestion and calm the
emotions. They are helpful for weakness, low energy, nervous
exhaustion, and poor appetite. They can stabilize
the emotions when feeling irritable, sad or crying
for no reason. They are added like licorice to
harmonize and sweeten other herbs in a formula. A
tonic tea can be made by simmering 3 berries to cup water for
15 min. cover and steep. Enjoy and remember to eat
the berries after drinking for their full medicinal qualities.
The whole jujube tree is medicinal. The leaves are
said to kill parasites and worms in the intestinal tract,
which cause diarrhea. The leaves are also used to
treat children suffering from typhoid fever, inducing sweating to break
the fever.
The heartwood is a powerful blood tonic. The bark is said to
be used as an
eyewash for inflamed eyes. The root helps promote hair growth
and also is
used for treating eruptive fevers of children in smallpox, measles and
chickenpox. 
Landscape: This
is a tree that can withstand arid conditions and survive on
very little water or an excess amount of water. The tree has
a long taproot as
well as many
shallow roots grabbing up all available water at all depths.
The
domestic type Li and Lang will reach a height of 30 ft. while the wild
seedling
variety will grow to 15 ft. The domestic variety is nearly
thornless while its
wild form is very spiny and has been proposed to be the
‘crown of thorns’ of
biblical times. The wild trees are perfect for a tall
windbreak/hedge while the
domestic forms make unique specimen trees with there beautiful
structure both
in summer as well as winter. A word of caution, plant them on
an edge where
the ground won’t be disturbed because they like to sucker due
to their shallow
root system. They don’t seem to be bothered by
pests and are an easy tree to
grow. They leaf out late in May and have a staggered bloom of
small yellow
highly scented flowers in a period from June into mid July and ripen
early
September until late October.
We grow two
kinds of jujube, a wild spiny plant and a more refined,
domesticated
tree. We get food from domestic varieties Li and Lang,
and make
tincture from the smaller berries on the thorny wild plant.
The large
berries, fruit, from the Li and Lang trees dry to a sweet meat called
a red date.
These keep well dried for years or may be made into a candy.
Originally from
China, by way of California, we have sold many ornamental
jujubes in Santa
Fe and Albuquerque.
They are also
available at Plants
of the Southwest.
Jujubes are a
plant that is well adapted to our arid environment, actually
needing the
intense sun and heat to ripen its fruit. Jujubes are an important
herb used for
the purification of blood, as a synergestic herb combining
multiple
ingrediants in a tonic, and as an energy boost.
The deserts from the Mid-East to the Orient are familiar to this fruit,
it has
been used for
generations as a trail food when meals are not so easily
prepared. It is
said to cure coughs and other lung complaints, soothe the
internal organs
and to reduce water retention. The small sour berries are used
for the stomach
and as a general tonic. Jujube pits, when aged for three
years, are
considered excellent for wounds and abdominal pain.
The leaves
are used for a number of infectious diseases. The root is used
to promote hair
growth and in treating such childhood maladies as small pox,
measels and chicken pox, while the bark is used to make an eye wash for inflammed eyes
1 pound Jujube