- Family:
- Solanaceae Juss.
Lycium L.

[FSOM]
M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrubs, usually armed with thorns, bisexual or dioecious
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves alternate or clustered on short shoots, simple, with entire margins
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Flowers solitary or few from short shoots
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx cup-shaped or tubular
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla campanulate, tubular, funnel- or trumpet-shaped
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens included or exserted; anthers dehiscing longitudinally
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary 2-celled, with numerous ovules; style slender, stigma 2-lobed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit a globose to ovoid berry
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds flattened, reticulate.
- Distribution
- Perhaps 100 species, mainly in warm temperate areas, mainly in America.
[FTEA]
Solanaceae, Jennifer M Edmonds. Oliganthes, Melongena & Monodolichopus, Maria S. Vorontsova & Sandra Knapp. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2012
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrubs, sub-shrubs or small trees.
- Morphology Stem
- Stems with long shoots bearing alternate leaves and short shoots terminating in a spine with fasciculate leaves; nodes usually swollen brachyblasts
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves fasciculate on brachyblasts or alternate, membranaceous or succulent. Inflorescences axillary, solitary or occasionally paired, rarely in manyflowered terminal fascicles, epedunculate; flowers actinomorphic or zygomorphic, usually hermaphrodite, but a few species functionally dioecious; pedicels filiform, usually erect, rarely deflexed in fruit
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx tubular, campanulate or cupulate, with 4–5 equal or unequal calyx lobes which enlarge in fruit
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla urceolate, tubular, salverform or infundibular; tube narrow and straight but often constricted above the ovary, with spreading or reflexed imbricate lobes; corolla often detaching after anthesis leaving an annular ring around ovary base
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens usually unequal, often comprising two long, two medium and one short, rarely only 4, exserted or included; filaments joined to corolla tube at same or different levels, straight or flexuose, cylindrical or enlarged at point of fusion, often pubescent towards base, usually glabrous where free; anthers usually all fertile though occasionally sterile especially in functionally female flowers, ovoid, obovoid or sagittate, dorsifixed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary 2-locular, ovules numerous; disc annular, inconspicuous and greenish, or prominent when red or orange; style filiform, glabrous, usually exserted; stigma capitate or discoidal, bilobed (style stunted and stigma absent from functionally male flowers)
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit a many-seeded berry, rarely drupaceous with two pyrenes
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds usually numerous, occasionally only one in each locule, small; testa crustaceous, reticulate-foveolate.
- Note
- A large genus of 75 to 100 species, which are found throughout the world. Around 30 to 40 species are probably native to the Old World especially South Africa, but only L. europaeum L. and L. shawii Roem. & Schult. have been recorded from East Africa. However, Venter ( pers. comm.) considers many specimens to have been misidentified and believes that, as discussed below, only L. shawii occurs throughout this region.
[FZ]
Flora Zambesiaca. Vol. 8, Part 4. Solanaceae. Gonçalves AE. 2005
- Morphology General
- Shrubs or occasionally small trees, sometimes scandent, sometimes halophytic, densely branched and usually spinescent, with brachyblasts on older branches and spines, glabrous or with an indumentum of multicellular, uniseriate, simple or branched, glandular or eglandular hairs, variously combined in different species
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel
- Pedicels slender, filiform but thickened distally
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
- Disk annular, adnate to and surrounding the basal part of the ovary, prominent or inconspicuous Disk annular, adnate to and surrounding the basal part of the ovary, prominent or inconspicuous.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary 2-locular; ovules usually numerous (elsewhere rarely one) in each locule, on a fleshy, axile placenta, hemicampylotropous.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
- Style erect, filiform, straight.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Stigma
- Stigma dilated, obtuse and 2-lobed, exserted to various degrees, undeveloped in functionally male flowers
- Note
- Most Lycium species are bisexual, but cryptic dioecy occurs in six African species, including L. horridum Thunb. and L. villosum Schinz from the Flora Zambesiaca area. The flowers of the functionally male plants tend to have a narrowly funnel-shaped corolla with 2–3 of the fertile stamens exserted and the undeveloped style and stigma not apparent externally. The flowers of the functionally female plants are tubular, the sterile stamens completely included and the fully developed style and stigma exserted. A cosmopolitan genus of approximately 90 species, widely distributed in warm to temperate regions, the largest number concentrated in South America mainly in Argentina, and also in Southern Africa; 8 species recorded from the Flora Zambesiaca area. Venter, loc. cit. (2000), noted that species of Lycium hybridize readily, but local hybrids are quite easy to detect in the field. L. villosum Schinz and L. horridum are both considered to be of hybrid origin. Chromosome base number: x=12
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrubs or occasionally small trees, sometimes scandent, sometimes halophytic, densely branched and usually spinescent, with brachyblasts on older branches and spines, glabrous or with an indumentum of multicellular, uniseriate, simple or branched, glandular or eglandular hairs, variously combined in different species.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves solitary and alternate on young stems and spines or fascicled on brachyblasts, subsessile or petiolate, herbaceous to succulent, often covered by a waxy excrescence consisting primarily of calcium oxalate, usually entire. Leaves solitary and alternate on young stems and spines or fascicled on brachyblasts, subsessile or petiolate, herbaceous to succulent, often covered by a waxy excrescence consisting primarily of calcium oxalate, usually entire
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers mostly solitary among fascicled leaves, seldom paired, elsewhere rarely in a terminal (pseudo-axillary) congested cincinnus, actinomorphic, bisexual, functionally monoecious in a few species; pedicels slender, filiform but thickened distally. Flowers mostly solitary among fascicled leaves, seldom paired, elsewhere rarely in a terminal (pseudo-axillary) congested cincinnus, actinomorphic, bisexual, functionally monoecious in a few species.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx shorter than or ± as long as the corolla; tube campanulate to tubular, (4)5-lobed (elsewhere sometimes truncate), infrequently slightly 2-lipped; lobes equal to slightly unequal, shorter than or as long as the tube, with valvate aestivation; in fruit enlarged and lacerate. Calyx shorter than or ± as long as the corolla; tube campanulate to tubular, (4)5-lobed (elsewhere sometimes truncate), infrequently slightly 2-lipped; lobes equal to slightly unequal, shorter than or as long as the tube, with valvate aestivation; in fruit enlarged and lacerate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla tubular or infundibuliform to campanulate, somewhat restricted above the ovary before expanding, variously coloured, pilose on the inside at the point of filament insertion and below it or sometimes glabrous; limb (4)5-lobed in the Flora Zambesiaca area, spreading or reflexed, the lobes often violet, shorter than the tube (elsewhere sometimes longer), with imbricate aestivation. Corolla tubular or infundibuliform to campanulate, somewhat restricted above the ovary before expanding, variously coloured, pilose on the inside at the point of filament insertion and below it or sometimes glabrous; limb (4)5-lobed in the Flora Zambesiaca area, spreading or reflexed, the lobes often violet, shorter than the tube (elsewhere sometimes longer), with imbricate aestivation
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens (4)5, from unequal to subequal, the filaments inserted from just above the base of corolla tube to just below the corolla mouth, subulate (elsewhere sometimes basally enlarged and glandular), usually pilose at the base, included or exserted; anthers all fertile in bisexual or functionally male flowers, sterile in functionally female flowers, ovate-oblong to ovate in outline, dorsifixed with the thecae separated from each other for the lower third or half, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Stamens (4)5, from unequal to subequal, the filaments inserted from just above the base of corolla tube to just below the corolla mouth, subulate (elsewhere sometimes basally enlarged and glandular), usually pilose at the base, included or exserted; anthers all fertile in bisexual or functionally male flowers, sterile in functionally female flowers, ovate-oblong to ovate in outline, dorsifixed with the thecae separated from each other for the lower third or half, dehiscing by longitudinal slits
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Staminodes
- Staminodes absent in the Flora Zambesiaca area. Staminodes absent in the Flora Zambesiaca area
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Ovary 2-locular; ovules usually numerous (elsewhere rarely one) in each locule, on a fleshy, axile placenta, hemicampylotropous; style erect, filiform, straight; stigma dilated, obtuse and 2-lobed, exserted to various degrees, undeveloped in functionally male flowers.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit red, black or yellow, glossy, usually baccaceous, rarely drupaceous with 2 pyrenes, globose, ovoid or conical, glabrous, sometimes thin-walled. Fruit red, black or yellow, glossy, usually baccaceous, rarely drupaceous with 2 pyrenes, globose, ovoid or conical, glabrous, sometimes thin-walled
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds usually numerous (to only one) in each locule, discoidal, reniform or ovate in outline; testa leathery or crustaceous, reticulate-foveolate; embryo curved, of uniform in diameter; radicle terete; cotyledons semi-terete; endosperm usually abundant. Seeds usually numerous (to only one) in each locule, discoidal, reniform or ovate in outline; testa leathery or crustaceous, reticulate-foveolate; embryo curved, of uniform in diameter; radicle terete; cotyledons semi-terete; endosperm usually abundant
- Cytology
- Chromosome base number: x=12.
Native to:
Afghanistan, Alabama, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Bahamas, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, California, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Chile Central, Chile North, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Colorado, Corse, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Aegean Is., East Himalaya, Easter Is., Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Florida, France, Free State, Galápagos, Georgia, Greece, Gulf States, Hainan, Haiti, Hawaii, India, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Juan Fernández Is., Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kirgizstan, Korea, Kriti, Kuwait, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Leeward Is., Lesotho, Libya, Louisiana, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Manchuria, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nansei-shoto, Netherlands Antilles, Nevada, New Mexico, New South Wales, North Caucasus, Northern Provinces, Ogasawara-shoto, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Pitcairn Is., Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qinghai, Rodrigues, Réunion, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, Socotra, Somalia, South Australia, South Carolina, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tibet, Tonga, Transcaucasus, Trinidad-Tobago, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Turkmenistan, Turks-Caicos Is., Uganda, Uruguay, Utah, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Victoria, Vietnam, Western Australia, Western Sahara, Xinjiang, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Introduced into:
Alberta, Arkansas, Assam, Austria, Baleares, Belgium, British Columbia, Bulgaria, Central European Rus, Connecticut, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Denmark, District of Columbia, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ireland, Jawa, Kansas, Kentucky, Krym, Laos, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nepal, Netherlands, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Zealand North, Norfolk Is., North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Territory, Norway, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Poland, Primorye, Queensland, Québec, Rhode I., Romania, Saskatchewan, Society Is., South Dakota, South European Russi, Sweden, Switzerland, Tasmania, Tennessee, Ukraine, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
- Lycium acutifolium E.Mey. ex Dun.
- Lycium afrum L.
- Lycium amarum Lu Q.Huang
- Lycium ameghinoi Speg.
- Lycium americanum Jacq.
- Lycium amoenum Dammer
- Lycium anatolicum A.Baytop & R.R.Mill
- Lycium andersonii A.Gray
- Lycium arenicola Miers
- Lycium armatum Griff.
- Lycium arochae F.Chiang, T.Wendt & E.J.Lott
- Lycium athium Bernardello
- Lycium australe F.Muell.
- Lycium barbarum L.
- Lycium barbinodum Miers
- Lycium berlandieri Dunal
- Lycium boerhaviifolium L.f.
- Lycium bosciifolium Schinz
- Lycium brevipes Benth.
- Lycium bridgesii (Miers) R.A.Levin, Jill S.Mill. & G.Bernardello
- Lycium californicum Nutt. ex A.Gray
- Lycium carolinianum Walter
- Lycium cestroides Schltdl.
- Lycium chanar Phil.
- Lycium chilense Bertero
- Lycium chinense Mill.
- Lycium ciliatum Schltdl.
- Lycium cinereum Thunb.
- Lycium confertum Miers
- Lycium cooperi A.Gray
- Lycium cuneatum Dammer
- Lycium cyathiformum C.L.Hitchc.
- Lycium cylindricum Kuang & A.M.Lu
- Lycium dasystemum Pojark.
- Lycium decumbens Welw. ex Hiern
- Lycium densifolium Wiggins
- Lycium depressum Stocks
- Lycium deserti Phil.
- Lycium distichum Meyen
- Lycium edgeworthii Dunal
- Lycium eenii S.Moore
- Lycium europaeum L.
- Lycium exsertum A.Gray
- Lycium ferocissimum Miers
- Lycium flexicaule Pojark.
- Lycium fremontii A.Gray
- Lycium fuscum Miers
- Lycium gariepense A.M.Venter
- Lycium geniculatum Fernald
- Lycium gilliesianum Miers
- Lycium glomeratum Sendtn.
- Lycium grandicalyx Joubert & Venter
- Lycium hantamense A.M.Venter
- Lycium hirsutum Dunal
- Lycium horridum Thunb.
- Lycium humile Phil.
- Lycium infaustum Miers
- Lycium intricatum Boiss.
- Lycium isthmense F.Chiang
- Lycium kopetdaghi Pojark.
- Lycium leiospermum I.M.Johnst.
- Lycium leiostemum Wedd.
- Lycium macrodon A.Gray
- Lycium makranicum Schönb.-Tem.
- Lycium martii Sendtn.
- Lycium mascarenense A.M.Venter & A.J.Scott
- Lycium megacarpum Wiggins
- Lycium minimum C.L.Hitchc.
- Lycium minutifolium Remy
- Lycium ningxiaense R.J.Wang & Q.Liao
- Lycium oxycarpum Dunal
- Lycium pallidum Miers
- Lycium parishii A.Gray
- Lycium petraeum Feinbrun
- Lycium pilifolium C.H.Wright
- Lycium puberulum A.Gray
- Lycium pubitubum C.L.Hitchc.
- Lycium pumilum Dammer
- Lycium qingshuigeense Xu L.Jiang & J.N.Li
- Lycium rachidocladum Dunal
- Lycium repens Speg.
- Lycium ruthenicum Murray
- Lycium sandwicense A.Gray
- Lycium schaffneri A.Gray ex Hemsl.
- Lycium schizocalyx C.H.Wright
- Lycium schreiteri F.A.Barkley
- Lycium schweinfurthii Dammer
- Lycium shawii Roem. & Schult.
- Lycium shockleyi A.Gray
- Lycium sokotranum R.Wagner & Vierh.
- Lycium stenophyllum Remy
- Lycium strandveldense A.M.Venter
- Lycium tenue Willd.
- Lycium tenuispinosum Miers
- Lycium tetrandrum Thunb.
- Lycium texanum Correll
- Lycium torreyi A.Gray
- Lycium truncatum Y.C.Wang
- Lycium villosum Schinz
- Lycium vimineum Miers
- Lycium yunnanense Kuang & A.M.Lu
Lycium L. appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milne-Redhead, E. [7150], Kenya | 31121.000 | No | |||
Wynd, F.L. [745], Mexico | K000063311 | No | |||
Parry, C.C. [723], Mexico | K000063312 | No | |||
Smakaune [678], Mexico | K000063313 | No |
First published in Sp. Pl.: 191 (1753)
Accepted by
- Castroviejo, S. (ed.) in Castroviejo, S. & al. (eds.) (2012). Flora Iberica 11: 1-672. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid.
- Tutin, T.G. & al. (eds.) (1972). Flora Europaea 3: 1-370. Cambridge University Press.
Literature
Flora Zambesiaca
- A.M. Venter, Taxonomy of Lycium, Ph.D. thesis, Univ. Bloemfontein: 1–273 (2000).
- Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 88 (1754).
- Hunziker, Gen. Solanacearum: 158 (2001).
- Lycium L., Sp. Pl.: 191 (1753)
- Sp. Pl.: 191 (1753)
Flora of Somalia
- Flora Somalia, Vol 3, (2006) Author: by M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Africa, Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Bloemfontein (2000);
- Collect. Bot. 7: 359–379 (1968);
- DC., Prodr. 13(1): 508 (1852);
- Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 88 (1754);
- Gen. Solanaceae: 158–164 (2001)
- Sp. Pl. 1: 191 (1753)
-
Art and Illustrations in Digifolia
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew
-
Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Flora of Somalia
Flora of Somalia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
-
Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
-
Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0