A thorny shrub or small tree bearing small, round, apple-like edible fruit.
Christ's thorn or sidr (Ziziphus spina-christi, family Rhamnaceae) is an evergreen shrub or tree that branches low down into a thick, tangled crown. It can reach 18 metres but is usually much smaller, with a short trunk up to 60 cm across. It is gathered from the wild for food, medicine and materials, and it is grown for its fruit in the oases of the Sahara and in Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, East Africa, Sinai, Iran and northern India, and also for shade and ornament. There are two forms: a tree with white branches and fruits up to 2 cm across, and a very bushy shrub with fruits up to 1 cm.
It grows across the Sahel from Senegal to Somalia, south to Kenya and through Arabia to Iran and India. It is a plant of hot, arid and semi-arid lands up to 2,400 metres, where rainfall is only 100 to 500 mm a year and the dry season can last eight to ten months. It prefers deep soils on alluvial plains and grows along the edges of ponds, rivers and wadis where there is groundwater, but it can also grow on clay and saline soils. It is very drought-tolerant once established, survives up to two months of flooding, but cannot stand frost.
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.