Lycium torreyi
Lycium puberulum
squaw desert-thorn, squawthorn, Torrey wolfberry, Torrey's box thorn, Torrey's wolfberry
downy desert-thorn, downy desert-thorn or wolfberry
blade spatulate to obovate, 10–50 × 1.5–15 mm, ± fleshy, surfaces glabrous.
blade spatulate, 5–40 × 2.5–11 mm, glaucous, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.
2–8-flowered fascicles or solitary flowers.
2-flowered fascicles or solitary flowers.
5–20 mm.
1–4 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.
(4–)5-merous;
calyx campanulate, 4–8 mm, lobes ovate, length 1–2 times tube;
corolla pale purple to white with greenish lobes, tubular to funnelform, 7–13 mm, lobes 2–3 mm;
stamens included.
orange to red, ovoid, 6–12 mm, fleshy.
pale orange-yellow, ovoid, constricted proximal to middle, 4–9 mm, glaucous, dry, hard.
8–30.
2–4.
= 24.
= 24.
Lycium torreyi
Lycium puberulum
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 puberulum is similar to L. cooperi and L. macrodon; it is restricted to the Chihuahuan Desert, occurring in western Texas and adjacent northern Mexico. In that region, L. pallidum is the most similar species, but it occurs at higher elevations, has much larger flowers, and its fruit is a fleshy berry versus the hardened fruit of L. puberulum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
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