Ziziphus mauritiana Lam., Rhamnaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results: 

Reject, score: 12 (Go to the risk assessment (Australia))
High risk, score: 9.5 (Go to the risk assessment (Pacific))

Other Latin names:  Zizyphyus mauritiana

Common name(s): [more details]

Chamorro: manzanas, manzanita

Chinese: dian ci zao

English: Chinee apple, Chinese date, Indian cherry, Indian jujube, Indian plum, cottony jujube, jujube

Fijian: baer

French: jujubier, massonnier, prune Saint-Paul

Hindi: baher, bahir

Spanish: azufaifo africano

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Small tree with prickly thorn-like stipules and small simple alternate 3-nerved leaves white (or tawny) tomentose beneath, dark green above, ovate or subelliptic, or slightly rhomboid, mostly less than 6 cm long, finely serrulate; flowers bisexual or male, greenish, in small cymes to 10 cm long; about 5 mm wide; calyx 5-toothed; petals 5; disc large; ovary with 2 styles; fruit a drupe with sweet sour mealy flesh and a 2-seeded stone, orange when ripe" (Stone, 1970; pp. 399-400).

Thorny tree 4-10 m high.  Flowers are white or greenish white and the fruits are orange to brown, 2-3 cm long, with edible white pulp surrounding a 2-locular pyrene. (Smith, 1985; pp. 696-697).

Habitat/ecology:  "Bush- and woodland, coastal sites.  A highly variable species with numerous varieties and cultivars and whose exact native range is obscure.  The shrub forms dense and impenetrable thickets affecting wildlife and displacing native plants.  In Australia, it forms a continuous shrub layer within formerly open eucalypt woodlands"  (Weber, 2003; p. 460).

In Fiji, "sometimes naturalized along roadsides and in agricultural land, usually near sea level but occasionally up to an elevation of about 600 m"  (Smith, 1985; pp. 696-697). "Occurs in a wide variety of habitats including river levees, margins of springs and alluvial flats.  Can spread to form impenetrable thorny tickets which seriously hamper the movement of animals and humans.  The thickets also out-compete more desirable native pasture species." (Smith, 2002; p. 25). In New Caledonia, "introduit depuis longtemps, reste rare dans les jardins" (MacKee, 1994; p. 120).

Propagation:  "Seed is spread by birds..., native animals, stock, feral pigs and humans who eat the fruit and expel the seeds. Spread also by intentional plantings as a fruit tree" (Smith, 2002; p. 25).  "The plant suckers from roots and resprouts even after complete removal of the shoots, e.g. after fires"  (Weber, 2003; p. 460).

Native range:  "Perhaps originally a native of India, Ziziphus mauritiana is apparently now widely naturalized from tropical Africa to Afghanistan and China, and also through Malesia and into Australia and some Pacific archipelagoes; its range as an ornamental is even more extensive" (Smith, 1985; pp. 696-697).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1929) (voucher ID: BISH 172311) Taxon name on voucher: Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (pp. 696-697) Voucher cited: Greenwood 471
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (pp. 696-697) Vouchers cited: DA 11758, DA 11598, DF 1217 (Johns 13), DA 11817 (L.5223), DA 976, DA 1316
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1959) (voucher ID: BISH 15074) Taxon name on voucher: Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1956) (voucher ID: BISH 15075) Taxon name on voucher: Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1961) (voucher ID: BISH 15076) Taxon name on voucher: Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
French Polynesia Gambier Islands	Mangareva (Gambier) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Cultivée
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Vouchers cited: J. Florence 3273 (PAP), J. Florence 3618 (PAP) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1982) (voucher ID: BISH 493082) Taxon name on voucher: Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1982) (voucher ID: BISH 493622) Taxon name on voucher: Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (pp. 399-400) Voucher cited: Stone 5031 (GUAM)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 155)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) (p. Voucher specimens) Vouchers cited: Lorence 6587 (BISH 590388), Lorence 6630 (BISH 595101)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) (p. Voucher specimens) Vouchers cited: Maehler 5 (BISH 64314), Stemmermann 6881 (BISH 493696)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) (p. Voucher specimens) Voucher cited: Rock s.n. (BISH 64313)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2010) (p. 15) Voucher cited: D. Frohlich & A. Lau 2007112901 (BISH)
Kiribati Tungaru (Gilbert) Islands	Tarawa Atoll	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Imada, Clyde T. (2004) (p. 75) Voucher: Imada 2003-35 (BISH 697650)
Kiribati Tungaru (Gilbert) Islands	Tarawa Atoll		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (2003) (voucher ID: BISH 697650) Taxon name on voucher: Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 117)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 120) Voucher cited: MacKee 36674
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	cultivated	Waterhouse, Barbara (year unknown)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Wake Islands	Wake Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1998) (voucher ID: BISH 690628) Taxon name on voucher: Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Nicholas M. (2002) (p. 25)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Nicholas M. (2002) (p. 25)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Humid forests, thickets along riverbanks, hills, slopes; below 1800 m. Native in Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan; cultivated in Fujian.
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (pp. 189-190)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 91) Cultivated only
Taiwan Taiwan Island	Taiwan Island	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Cultivated

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Cultivé/naturalisé"
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. (2004) (pp. 7, 8)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Agalega Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. (1983) (p. 135) Voucher cited: Procter 4206
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	native	Weber, Ewald (2003) (p. 460)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Comments:  Reported to be moderately invasive in Fiji (Meyer, 2000; p. 92). "A declared noxious weed in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory" (Smith, 2002; p. 25).

Control: 

Physical:  "Single plants can be slashed and the roots grubbed".

Chemical:  "Larger stands are slashed and the cut stumps treated with triclopyr.  Basal bark sprays with triclopyr or picloram are also effective.  Glyphosate can be used as an overall spray.  Follow-up programs are necessary to treat seedlings and regrowth"  (Weber, 2003; p. 460).