Ziziphus rugosa Lam.

The fruit is said to be palatable and eaten by local inhabitants (Dalzell & Gibson), but according to Cooke and Brandis it is insipid.

This species is an important host for the parasitic scale insect, Laccifer lacca (lac insect).

A small tree or stragling shrub, armed with stipular spines, solitary or paired with a broad base, young branches fulvous-tomentose. Leaves 5-12.5x4-6 cm, broadly elliptic, shortly acuminate, denticulate, base oblique, rugose, petiole 0.8-1.5 cm long densely tomentose. Inflorescence of pedunculate cymes, densely pubescent, peduncle c.5 mm long. pedicel, c. 4 mm long. Calyx puberulous inside 1.5-2 mm long, with ovate acute lobes. Petals absent. Disc 5-lobed, styles 2, connate below the middle. Fruit c. 5-8 mm in diameter, globose or pyriform, white when ripe.

Shrubs or small trees, evergreen, to 9 m tall, spinose. Young branches densely ferruginous or yellow-brown tomentose; old branches red-brown, scabrous, striate, with conspicuous lenticels. Stipular spines 1(or 2), recurved, purple-red, 3-6 mm; petiole short, 5-9 mm, stout, densely yellow-brown tomentose; leaf blade broadly ovate or broadly elliptic, 8-11 × 4.5-9.5 cm, papery or subleathery, abaxially densely ferruginous or yellow-brown tomentose, adaxially at first villous, gradually glabrescent or later sparsely pubescent in vein axils, 3-5-veined from base, midvein with 2-5 pairs of secondary veins, veins prominent abaxially, impressed adaxially, base subcordate or rounded, oblique, margin serrulate, apex rounded. Inflorescences to 20 cm. Flowers green, densely pubescent, few to 10 in terminal or axillary large cymose panicles or cymose racemes; peduncles 5-12 mm. Pedicel ca. 2 mm, densely ferruginous tomentose. Sepals triangular, subequal to calyx tube, abaxially ferruginous tomentose, adaxially slightly keeled, apex acute. Petals absent. Disk orbicular, rather thick, 5-lobed, outer rim inconspicuous. Ovary globose, densely tomentose, to ca. 1/3 immersed in disk; styles deeply 2-cleft or 2-cleft to half. Drupe orange, turning black at maturity, obovoid-globose or subglobose, 9-12 mm, 8-10 mm in diam., hairy, gradually glabrescent, with persistent tube at base; fruiting pedicel 7-10 mm, tomentose; endocarp fragile-crustaceous; stone 1-loculed, 1-seeded. Seeds red-brown, globose, 6-7 × 6-7 mm. Fl. Mar-May, fr. Apr-Jun. 2n = 24.

Distribution: Ceylon, Burma, India, (Assam), Sikkim and Pakistan (Sind; Hyderabad, vide Cooke l.c.).

Hainan, S and SW Yunnan [India, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].

Fl. Per.: December-January.

Sparse forests and thickets on hills, sunny places on mountains; below 1400 m.