Lang

'Lang' is the other half of the founding USDA introduction that launched jujube growing in the United States, brought back by Frank N. Meyer in 1908 as PI 22686 and released with 'Li' in 1924. NMSU's DNA genotyping work turned up a naming surprise: the tree Americans call 'Lang' is genetically identical to the Chinese drying cultivar 'Junzao' and does not match the cultivar known as 'Lang' in China. It behaves like a drying variety too. The pear-shaped fruit is only fair eaten fresh and has to be fully colored before it is worth picking, but it dries into dense, richly sweet, finely wrinkled fruit. Mature wood is nearly spineless, which makes it one of the more pleasant jujubes to prune and harvest, and it remains a standard pollination partner for 'Li'.