Lycium torreyi
Lycium fremontii
squaw desert-thorn, squawthorn, Torrey wolfberry, Torrey's box thorn, Torrey's wolfberry
Fremont box thorn, Fremont wolfberry, Fremont's desert-thorn, Frémont's desert-thorn
blade spatulate to obovate, 10–50 × 1.5–15 mm, ± fleshy, surfaces glabrous.
blade bright green, spatulate, 8–35 × 2–15 mm, fleshy, surfaces densely glandular-pubescent.
2–8-flowered fascicles or solitary flowers.
2–3-flowered fascicles or solitary flowers.
5–20 mm.
4–25 mm.
(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.
bisexual or pistillate, 5-merous;
calyx tubular, 2–10 mm, lobes to 1–2 mm, glandular-puberulent;
corolla deep lavender to purple, tubular to funnelform, 8–20 mm, lobes 2–8 mm;
stamens included to slightly exserted.
orange to red, ovoid, 6–12 mm, fleshy.
red, ovoid, 5–9 mm, fleshy.
8–30.
40–60.
= 24.
= 96, 120.
Lycium torreyi
Lycium fremontii
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.)
Lycium fremontii occurs in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, southern California, and northwestern Mexico. Populations of L. fremontii are morphologically gynodioecious (functionally dioecious), and plants are sexually dimorphic for flower size. Pistillate plants are often covered with orange-red berries in March and April. Plants are robust; in southern Arizona they often thrive at the edges of agricultural fields, where there is water run-off. This species co-occurs with L. andersonii, L. berlandieri, and L. californicum. However, the combination of larger bright green leaves, deep lavender flowers, floral dimorphism, and considerable glandular pubescence differentiates this species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
