Jujube: The Red Grain Beneath the Fruit

The jujube tree (Ziziphus jujuba) belongs to the buckthorn family. It is best known for its fruit, but it has also long been used as timber. Relatively hard and heavy, it is often sought for small objects and craft materials. In Korea, jujube wood struck by lightning is called byeokjomok and has traditionally been kept as seals or jewelry.

Red Inside, Light Outside

When jujube is sawn, reddish-brown heartwood appears at the center, surrounded by yellowish sapwood toward the bark. The boundary between the two colors is distinct, so even a single board carries two layers of color flowing through it. Because the trunk does not grow especially thick or straight, many boards are narrow, with winding edges. Live-edge boards that preserve this shape rather than trimming it away are the defining face of jujube.

Grain Shaped by Knots and Forks

Jujube boards often contain knots. Around each knot, the grain bends and passes in waves, while the boundary between heartwood and sapwood curves along with it. A board sawn through the point where a branch forked may be bent into a cross or hook shape from the outset, with the grain spreading outward in every direction from the bend. It is a pattern not found in straight boards.

Time Preserved in the End Grain

In round slices, the growth rings appear first. A thick, 144 mm slice has closely spaced growth rings across its red end grain, while the side is deeply indented by the contours toward the bark. Some slices have two growth-ring centers. On either side of a split line, circles spread outward one at a time. A slice covered in dark mottled patterns has an edge that winds like lace.

Wood Left Whole

Jujube left whole rather than sawn offers another appearance. A log section with deep vertical grooves on its exterior conceals red wood beneath its rough bark. A small log section cut from a branching point becomes an object simply through its shape, while a semicircular sculptural piece stood upright retains radial cracks on its lower end grain like a pattern.

Woodway’s jujube comes in many forms, from boards and slices to log sections, turning blanks, and sculptural pieces. Each is one of a kind, so the same grain will never appear again.

Jujube WoodKorean woodsGolden-brown to dark brown

Photos: Product photos from the Woodway Smart Store. Some of the solid-wood pieces featured in this article may have already been sold.