So

'So' arrived with Frank Meyer's 1914 USDA collection and has survived in cultivation less for its fruit than for its architecture. Every branch and branchlet grows in a pronounced zigzag, so the bare winter tree looks deliberately sculpted — nurseries sell it as 'So Contorted' or under the ZigZag trademark, and NMSU rates it the best four-season ornamental in its entire jujube collection. It is also naturally dwarfing, the most compact of the classic American cultivars, which puts it within reach of small gardens and large containers. The fruit is a legitimate bonus rather than an afterthought: round, sweet-tart and good fresh, if noticeably non-uniform in size. 'Chico' descends from it as an open-pollinated seedling.