Ziziphus nummularia (Burm. f.) Wight & Arn.
Rhamnus nummularia Burm. f., Z. rotundifolia Lam., Z. microphylla Roxb.
Eng.: Lotebush, wild jujube.
Shrub deciduous, hermaphrodite, tomentose, thorny, 1-2.5 m tall, with stems numerous, flexuous and branching intricate. Stipules spiny, 0.5-1.5 cm, generally one shorter and curved, or without spines. Leaves alternate, 0.8-1.2 × 0.4-0.8 cm, ovate-orbicular, mostly apiculate or mucronate, almost entire, traversed longitudinally by only 3 nerves, hairy or tomentose on both sides; petioles 2-5 mm. Flowers 3-4 mm, axillary, yellow-green. Sepals gray tomentose, triangular, pedicel 0.4-1 cm. Petals 5, as long as the sepals, obovate. Fruit drupaceous, about 1 cm in diameter, subglobose, bright yellow. Seeds of c. 4 mm, dark brown.
Flowering:
March-April.
Fruiting:
May-July.
Habitat:
Thickets and steppes in a semi-arid environment.
Distribution:
Essentially Asian species: Arabian peninsula, Middle East, reaching for the E to India. For the the west it reaches to the Sinai, where it was collected up at Ka-el-Nabq, about 15 km NW of Taba.
Observations:
As it can sometimes be confused with Z. lotus subsp. saharae (Batt. & Trabut) Maire, its area in Egypt may be larger.
Conservation status:
Uncommon but widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.