Jepson Herbarium
The University and Jepson Herbaria
University of California, Berkeley
Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
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Lycium

BOX-THORN, WOLFBERRY

Higher Taxonomy
Family: SolanaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Common Name: NIGHTSHADE FAMILY
Habit: Annual to shrub. Leaf: 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, on corolla tube, alternate lobes; ovary superior, generally 2-chambered, style 1. Fruit: berry, loculicidal or septicidal capsule, [(drupe)], 2--5-chambered.
Genera In Family: 75 genera, 3000 species: worldwide, especially +- tropics; many alien weeds in California; many cultivated for food, drugs, or ornamental (potato, tomato, peppers, tobacco, petunia). Toxicity: many TOXIC. Note: Nicandra physalodes (L.) Gaertn. is a waif.
eFlora Treatment Author: Michael H. Nee
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Lycium
Habit: Shrub 1--4 m, generally with thorns, glabrous, hairy, or glandular-hairy. Leaf: alternate, clustered or not, entire, small, fleshy, generally +- flat to elliptic in ×-section. Inflorescence: clusters; flowers 1--several. Flower: calyx cylindric to bell-shaped, lobes 2--5; corolla funnel- or bell-shaped, +- white, +- green, or +- purple, lobes 4--5; stamens attached at various levels. Fruit: berry, 2-chambered, fleshy [dry]. Seed: 2--many.
Species In Genus: +- 100 species: warm, dry areas worldwide. Etymology: (Latin: Lycia, ancient country of Asia Minor)
Jepson eFlora Author: Michael H. Nee
Unabridged Reference: Hitchcock 1932 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 19:179--374
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Key to Lycium

Previous taxon: Datura wrightii
Next taxon: Lycium andersonii

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Citation for this treatment: Michael H. Nee 2012, Lycium, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=11452, accessed on January 23, 2025.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2025, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on January 23, 2025.