Ziziphus lotus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ziziphus lotus | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta |
| Class: | Magnoliopsida |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rhamnaceae |
| Genus: | Ziziphus |
| Species: | Z. lotus |
| Binomial name | |
| Ziziphus lotus (L.) Lam. |
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Ziziphus lotus is a deciduous shrub in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, including the Sahara in Morocco.
[edit] Description
Ziziphus lotus can reach a height of 2–5 metres (6.6–16 ft), with shiny green leaves about 5 cm long. The edible fruit is a globose dark yellow drupe 1-1.5 cm diameter called a nabk. Common names in Arabic are sidr , rubeida ("after its crouch-shaped treetop"), nbeg in Tunisia and annab in Lebanon.[1]
It is closely related to Ziziphus zizyphus (Jujube), and is often regarded as the Lotus tree of Greek mythology.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Amots Dafni, Shay Levy, Efraim Lev (2005). "The ethnobotany of Christ's Thorn Jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) in Israel". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 1 (8): 8. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-1-8. PMC 1277088. PMID 16270941. http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/1/1/8. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
- ^ Herodotus, Histories, Book IV, 177.
