Jujube, Ziziphus Mill., is also called Chinese date due to the sweet fruit. To grow these a couple are needed, whether it is different improved cultivars or seed grown one that is better for pollination due to somewhat less desirable fruit and likely more thorns. The cultivars are normally grafted onto seedling rootstock.
In the Bible one of the many references to thorns could be Z. spina-christi (L.) Desf., as the specific epithet indicates this could have been used to make the crown of thorns.
