Our wrinkly mystery “nuts” in the wrinkly fruit last week were from jujube or Chinese date, Ziziphus zizyphus (older: Ziziphus jujuba).

Jujube have interesting fruit.

jujube-fruit-close

At first the fruit look (and smell) like a oval apple.

jujube-fruit

Over time the fruit become reddish brown and wrinkly, as you can see towards the top in this photograph.

mystery-seed-170-fruit

Once dried, they look like dates.

mystery-seed-170-1

Inside the fruit is a “nut” or “pit” rather like from an olive. It turns out that I mislead you last week because this is not really the seed.

jujube-nut

(Illustration by L.H. @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database)
As you can see from this drawing, inside the “nut” are two seeds lying side by side. It would require a sharp knife and patience to get them out.

jujube-tree-1

The tree looks somewhat like a spindly pear tree and has similar growth habits. It is deciduous in the winter and requires a brief chill to properly set fruit. Although originally from Asia, they do grow in the low deserts of Arizona.

Have you ever seen a jujube? Did you try the fruit? What did you think of it?