SOLANACEAE

NIGHTSHADE FAMILY

Michael Nee

Annual to shrub
Leaves generally simple, generally alternate, generally petioled; stipules 0; blade entire to deeply lobed
Inflorescence various
Flower bisexual; calyx lobes generally 5; corolla ± radial, cylindric to rotate, lobes generally 5; stamens 5, alternate corolla lobes; ovary superior, generally 2-chambered, style 1
Fruit: berry or capsule, 2–5-chambered
Genera in family: 75 genera, 3000 species: worldwide, especially ± tropical; many alien weeds in CA; many cultivated for food, drugs, or ornamental (potato, tomato, peppers, tobacco, petunia); many TOXIC.

LYCIUM

BOX THORN

Shrub 1–4 m, generally with leafy thorns, glabrous, hairy, or glandular
Leaves alternate or clustered, entire, small, fleshy
Inflorescence: clusters; flowers 1–several
Flower: calyx cylindric to bell-shaped, lobes 2–5; corolla funnel-shaped or rotate, whitish, greenish, or purplish, lobes 4–5; stamens attached at different levels in corolla
Fruit: berry, 2-chambered, dry to fleshy
Seeds 2–many
Species in genus: ± 100 species: warm, dry areas worldwide
Etymology: (Latin: Lycia, ancient country of Asia Minor)
Reference: [Hitchcock 1932 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 19:179–374]

Native

L. cooperi A. Gray

Plant glandular-puberulent; branches rigidly ascending to erect, leafy
Leaf 1–3 cm, oblanceolate to obovate
Flower: calyx 8–15 mm, narrowly bell-shaped, lobes 4–5, 1.5–3 mm, 1/2 to = tube; corolla narrowly funnel-shaped, greenish white, lavender-veined, outside glabrous or puberulent, tube 9–12 mm, lobes ovate-triangular; stamens barely exserted, attached ± at middle of tube
Fruit 5–9 mm, yellow to orange, with 2 cross-grooves above middle
Seeds several
Ecology: Sandy to rocky flats, washes
Elevation: < 2000 m.
Bioregional distribution: High Sierra Nevada (e slope), s San Joaquin Valley, East of Sierra Nevada, Mojave Desert (including w margins)
Distribution outside California: to Utah, Arizona
Flowering time: Mar–May
Horticultural information: STBL.