The Thorns are in pairs, the dorsal one long and straight, the lower shorter and recurved. They are brown in colour.
The Leaves are dark, dull green, soft on the upper surface, grey and densely covered with velvety hairs beneath. They are about 2 inches long and 1½ inches wide, with short stalks and have finely serrate edges, which the other species have not. The venation is 3-palmate and raised on the under surface. They are borne alternately on the twigs, with a tendency to assume one plane, the upper surface outwards.
The Flowers are in small axillary clusters in the axil of the leaf between the thorns, and are greenish-yellow with a 5-pointed calyx, 5 minute petals, 5 stamens, a bifid stigma and a yellow receptacle. They appear in December.
The Fruits are similar, but larger than those of the other species and are a rich red-brown, with a shiny, brittle skin, a white, mealy flesh and a large stone. They are not edible.
Uses.—The fruits are chewed, but not swallowed, as a cure for toothache. The wood is used for making bows of superior quality.
ZIZYPHUS SPINA-CHRISTI Willd.—Kurna. RHAMNACEAE.
This species is generally found in and around towns where it attains a height of over 40 feet with girths of over 6 feet. Closely resembling Z. Jujuba, it can be distinguished at once from that species by the absence of white on the underside of the leaf. The bright green foliage and tangled crown, commonly spherical in young trees, are readily recognised. Large trees have a great thicket of long, slender twigs that intertwine and emerge here and there from the crown to a distance of several feet, after the manner of the Bramble. It is a good shade tree and this and its edible fruits are the reasons for it being planted and preserved in towns. The tree is a favourite nesting site for small birds which build their nests in association with a wasp whose “honeycomb” guards the entrance to the nest.
The Bark is grey and deeply scoured with long fissures and ragged, ridged scales which fall in large sections 6 inches long. The slash is cerise.