Characterization of Two Romanian Local Biotypes of Ziziphus jujuba

In Romania, the only region where the Chinese jujube exists in semi spontaneous status is Dobrogea area, located between the Danube River and the Black Sea. It is important to mention that, the Chinese jujube populations founded in Romania are located in the neighborhood of antique sites with Greek, Roman and Byzantine ruins. Probably those old civilizations had an important role in the introduction of the Chinese jujube in the area from the Mediterranean basin. Until now we identified only two groups of Romanian local populations of Chinese jujube: 'Ostrov' and 'Jurilovca'. This paper presents a complete description of the two populations. 'Ostrov', also called Dobrogea olive, has a tree habitus and produces a high number of small fruits, some of them being parthenocarpic. It is locally propagated by root suckers and cultivated in small private gardens. Instead, 'Jurilovca' grows spontaneously on the border of the Razelm Lake as a small bush being considered as a weed and cut and burned by the local sheppards. The plants have smaller leaves and fruits than 'Ostrov' genotype but a good production of seeds with high germination. Within the 'Jurilovca' population, two biotypes were identified: 'Jurilovca 1' and 'Jurilovca 2'. The Romanian genotypes of Chinese jujube produce small fruits but they adapted to the local climate and soil conditions during centuries. Their presence in Dobrogea region shows how far the Chinese jujube migrated from the origin area. In the same time, they are extremely important for the ecosystem biodiversity. 'Jurilovca' biotypes could be interesting for a future use as rootstocks. Our first experimental results showed that in the southern part of Romania there exist appropriate natural conditions for Chinese jujube cultivation. The trees are extremely drought resistant, until now, they seem to have no natural enemies and the cultivation is not complicated. We underline that Chinese jujube is promising new fruit species in Romania. Its cultivation must be extended in integrated and organic farms and also in small private gardens.