Lycium cooperi |
Lycium barbarum |
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Cooper wolfberry, Cooper's box thorn, Cooper's desert-thorn, peach thorn |
box thorn, goji berry, Matrimony-vine |
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Habit | Shrubs erect, 0.6–2.5 m; bark usually purplish to reddish; stems densely glandular-pubescent. | Shrubs erect, 0.8–3 m; bark silvery tan; stems glabrous. |
Leaves | blade spatulate to oblanceolate, 10–35 × 2–23 mm, surfaces usually densely glandular-pubescent. |
blade lanceolate to oblong, 20–60 × 3–35 mm, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | 2–3-flowered fascicles or solitary flowers. |
2–4-flowered fascicles or solitary flowers. |
Pedicels | 2–8 mm. |
10–20 mm. |
Flowers | (4–)5-merous; calyx narrowly campanulate, 4–14 mm, lobe lengths 0.5–1 times tube; corolla white or greenish yellow, sometimes purple-veined, tubular to funnelform, 8–15 mm, lobes 1.5–3 mm; stamens included to exserted. |
4–6-merous; calyx campanulate, often 2-lobed, 3–5 mm, lobes 1–2 mm; corolla lavender to purple, funnelform, 8–13 mm, lobe lengths 0.5–1 times tube; stamens exserted. |
Berries | greenish yellow to orange, ovoid, constricted at or distal to middle, 5–10 mm, dry, hard, strongly accrescent calyx usually rupturing with fruit growth. |
red or orange-yellow, ovoid, 4–20 mm, fleshy. |
Seeds | 6–10. |
4–20. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Lycium cooperi |
Lycium barbarum |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–May. | Flowering Mar–Oct. |
Habitat | Sandy washes to slopes (Mojave and Colorado deserts). | Waste places, roadsides, fields. |
Elevation | 100–2000 m. (300–6600 ft.) | 0–2300 m. (0–7500 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NV; UT
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AL; AR; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; NS; ON; QC; SK; Asia (China) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Eurasia, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
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Discussion | Lycium cooperi occurs in western Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada (Clark and Esmeralda counties), and southwestern Utah (Washington County). It can be distinguished from the similar species L. pallidum and L. shockleyi by its dense, glandular pubescence and hard, constricted fruit. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Lycium barbarum is naturalized across North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. It is commonly cultivated in northern China, especially in Ningxia province. The plants have uses from medicinal to tea and wine. See discussion of 15. L. chinense for confusion between these two introduced species, especially in the flora area. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. |
Parent taxa | Solanaceae > Lycium | Solanaceae > Lycium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | L. barbarum var. auranticarpum, L. halimifolium | |
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 388. (1868) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 192. (1753) |
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