Zizyphus mauritiana, Lamk

(Syn. Z.Jujuba)

Family: Rhamnaceae

Common Name : Ber

Telugu Name : Regu

General :

Found wild in the forest and open lands. It is extensively cultivated for its edible fruits. Through specifically recommended for sandy loams, gravelly alluvial soils, it can be planted in laterites, black cutton and moderately saline soils having good drainage.

Flowering :

Greenish yellow flowers appear in April to October.

Fruiting :

Fruit ripens from October to Marck.

Morphology of the Fruit/Seed :

Drupe, 1.3 to 2.5 cms long; first yellow, then orange and finally reddish brown; globose or ovoid, with a single stone, embedded in fleshy pulp. Seed tubercled and irregularly furrowed.

Seed Collection and Storage :

Fruits collected in February to March, depulped and dried in the sun. Unsound and hollow seeds are sorted out by floatation in 18% salt solution. Viability of seed is for 1 to 2 years. Stored seeds germinate better.

Seed Biology :

No. of seeds per Kg.

Germination percentage

Plant percent

Period of germination in days

No. of seedlings per Kg. of fruit

700 to 1,800

31 to 95

27 to 82

15 to 85

750 to 1,470

Pretreatment:

Soaking in cold water for 48 hours; or in conc. H 2SO 4 for 45 minutes; or cracking of the hard outer bony shell.

Nursery Technique :

Sowing in primary beds in February to March and then pricked out to polybags after a month when they attain 4-leaf stage.