Ziziphus xylopyrus (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Ziziphus xylopyrus (Retz.) Willd.

Family: Rhamnaceae

Vernacular names

• Kottai elandai (Tamil).

Distribution

India, Sri Lanka. Occasionally cultivated in South-East Asia.

Uses

Fruits are said to be edible. In India the tree is important as host for the lac insect. Tannin in the stones is used to dye leather black.

Observations

• Tree, up to 12 m tall, sparsely armed.
• Fruit a globose drupe, 2 cm in diameter, tomentose.
• Seeds 2 or 3.

Very common in foothill scrub jungles in India, up to 1200 m altitude. In India flowering in May-July, fruiting June-December.

Selected sources

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd ed. 2 Volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.

• Mansfeld, R. & Schultze Motel, J., 1986. Verzeichnis landwirtschaftlicher und gärtnerischer Kuturpflanzen. 2nd ed. 4 Volumes. Springer Verlag, Berlin. 1998 pp.

• Matthew, K.M., 1981-1983. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic. 3 Volumes. The Rapinat Herbarium, Tiruchirapalli, India.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen