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Lycium berlandieri – Berlandier's wolfberry

 

Names

Scientific Name: Lycium berlandieri

Synonym:

Common Names: Berlandier’s wolfberry, boxthorn, desert thorn, barchata, joso, cilindrillo

Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Shrub

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, upland, riparian. This plant grows in a variety of habitats including desert flats, washes, grasslands, sandy hills, and rocky slopes from 2,100 to 4,600 feet.

Flower Color: Small greenish to purplish flowers

Flowering Season: March to September

Height: 2 to 8 feet, depending upon water availability

Description: The foliage of this plant is densely branched and spiny. Wolfberry is leafless during dry seasons, but refoliates quickly with rain. Axillary flowers are bell-shaped, appearing individually or clustered. The structure of the flowers suggests that bees are a favored pollinator, but they are also popular with butterflies and hummingbirds. Pea-sized berries resembling tiny tomatoes follow the flowers. Average life span of wolf berry is 90 years.

Special Characteristics

The berries of Lycium are popular with birds. Gambel’s quail use the plant as a food source, as well as for cover, roosting, and nesting. People enjoy the berries as well, though insect larva may be harbored within.

Classification

Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae

SOURCES:

Matthews, Robin F. 1994. Lycium berlandieri. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2013, October 1].

Phillips, S. J. and P. W. Comus. 2000. A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert. Tucson: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Press.

 

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