Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Lycium torreyi

squaw desert-thorn, squawthorn, Torrey wolfberry, Torrey's box thorn, Torrey's wolfberry
Habit Shrubs erect, 1–3 m; bark yellowish tan to brown; stems glabrous.
Leaves

blade spatulate to obovate, 10–50 × 1.5–15 mm, ± fleshy, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences

2–8-flowered fascicles or solitary flowers.
Pedicels

5–20 mm.
Flowers

(4–)5-merous;

calyx cupulate to tubular, 2.5–6 mm, lobe lengths 0.25-0.5 times tube;

corolla white to greenish lavender, narrowly tubular, 5–15 mm, lobes spreading, 1–4 mm, margins densely ciliate-lanate;

stamens slightly exserted.
Berries

orange to red, ovoid, 6–12 mm, fleshy.
Seeds

8–30.
2n

= 24.

Lycium torreyi
Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Desert washes, alluvial flats, along streams and canals.
Elevation 50–1000 m. (200–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In the flora area, Lycium torreyi occurs in Arizona, southeastern California, eastern Nevada (Clark and Lincoln counties), western New Mexico, western Texas, and southern Utah. It can be distinguished from L. andersonii by its densely ciliate-lanate corolla lobes, and the mouth of the corolla is not quite as narrow. Further, L. torreyi usually occurs by streams or canals, with branches more cascading than upright. C. L. Hitchcock (1932) reported the fruits to be juicy and sweet.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Solanaceae > Lycium
Sibling taxa
L. andersonii, L. barbarum, L. berlandieri, L. brevipes, L. californicum, L. carolinianum, L. chinense, L. cooperi, L. exsertum, L. ferocissimum, L. fremontii, L. macrodon, L. pallidum, L. parishii, L. puberulum, L. shockleyi, L. texanum
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 6: 47. (1862)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers