Ziziphus lotus(L.) Lam.

lotus

WFO wfo-0000430292 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Ziziphus lotus, photographed by Oleg Kosterin
fig. a Oleg Kosterin, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-05-15 / obs. 175569566
Ziziphus lotus, photographed by Abdenour Kheloufi
fig. b Abdenour Kheloufi, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 128282206
Ziziphus lotus, photographed by Even Dankowicz
fig. c Even Dankowicz, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 53702127
Ziziphus lotus, photographed by Olivier Argagnon
fig. d Olivier Argagnon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 177268740
Ziziphus lotus, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. e Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28737738
Ziziphus lotus, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. f Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28647904
Ziziphus lotus, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. g Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28631429
Ziziphus lotus, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. h Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28636312

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 18 botanical countries

Regions where Ziziphus lotus is native: Algeria, Burkina, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia, Western Sahara, Cyprus, Gulf States, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Türkiye, Greece, Sicilia, Spain AlgeriaBurkinaEgyptLibyaMaliMauritaniaMoroccoNigerTunisiaWestern SaharaCyprusGulf StatesLebanon-SyriaPalestineTürkiyeGreeceSiciliaSpain
Native distribution of Ziziphus lotus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Burkina BKN
Egypt EGY
Libya LBY
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Morocco MOR
Niger NGR
Tunisia TUN
Western Sahara WSA
Cyprus CYP ASIA-TEMPERATE
Gulf States GST
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Palestine PAL
Türkiye TUR
Greece GRC EUROPE
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 2 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Rhamnus lotus L.
  • Ziziphus sylvestris Mill.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.