ABSTRACT
Objective:To analyze the main factors affecting the <italic>Ziziphus jujuba</italic> distribution and expand the understanding of its distribution and the corresponding influencing factors by comparing the distribution sites of <italic>Z. jujuba</italic> predicted by models with those recorded in the literature. Method:More than 200 distribution sites of <italic>Z. jujuba</italic> accompanied by 55 environmental factors were obtained from literature and specimen review. The environmental factors that affect the distribution of <italic>Z. jujuba</italic> were explored by maximum entropy （MaxEnt） model， and the potential distribution areas of <italic>Z. jujuba</italic> in China were analyzed by ArcGIS， followed by the verification of the main environmental factors using receiver-operating characteristic （ROC） curve and Jackknife method. Result:The area under the curve （AUC） values for the test data and training data were both greater than 0.9， which perfectly satisfied the standard， indicating that the research results were accurate and reliable. Conclusion:The annual average temperature， the average temperature in May， the average temperature in the warmest season， vegetation type， soil type， average temperature in June， average temperature in September， and average temperature in August are proved to be the main environmental factors affecting the distribution of <italic>Z. jujuba</italic>， which can be found almost all over China， except for Heilongjiang and Tibet. <italic>Z. jujuba</italic> is most suitable to be planted in southeastern Sichuan， Chongqing， southern Gansu， Ningxia， most areas of central Shaanxi， eastern and southwestern Shanxi， Henan， eastern and northern Hubei， northern and eastern Anhui， Shandong， Hebei， Beijing， Tianjin， western Liaoning， and Zhejiang. As revealed by literature review， the most suitable growing areas of <italic>Z. jujuba</italic> are southeastern Sichuan， central Shaanxi， southwestern Shanxi， western and northern Henan， Shandong， and southwestern and eastern Hebei.