A thorny shrub or small tree bearing small, round, apple-like edible fruit.
The buffalo thorn (Ziziphus mucronata, family Rhamnaceae) is a spiny, deciduous shrub or tree, usually up to 9 metres tall, with a frequently crooked trunk and spreading, often drooping branches. Its thorns grow in pairs, one straight and the other hooked. It is a multipurpose tree, gathered from the wild and sometimes planted, especially as a hedge, for food, medicine and other uses.
It grows from Senegal to Ethiopia, south through eastern Africa to South Africa and Madagascar, and in Yemen. It is found in dry, thorny savanna, open scrub, woodland, forest edges and along rivers, from near sea level to 2,000 metres, where rainfall is 400 to 800 mm a year. It needs sun, grows on all types of soil, withstands both heat and some frost, and tolerates drought and some salt. It grows fast, reaching 4 to 6 metres in four or five years under good conditions, and responds well to coppicing and pollarding. Cleaned seed soaked for six hours in cold water germinates in two to three weeks.
Source: Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).
Leaves, bark, and roots are used in traditional medicine for fever, diarrhoea, wounds, and inflammation.
Fruit is eaten fresh or dried, and made into juices, jams, and pickles; leaves are browsed by livestock.
A hardy, drought-tolerant tree propagated by seed or grafting; grows wild and is also cultivated for its fruit.