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boxthorns
Lycium
Lycium is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The genus has a disjunct distribution around the globe, with species occurring on most continents in temperate and subtropical regions. South America has the most species, followed by North America and southern Africa. There are several scattered across Europe and Asia, and one is native to Australia. Common English names for plants of this genus include box-thorn, wolfberry, and desert-thorn. Plants of the World Online currently accepts 101 species. Other estimates are of 70 to 80 species.
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first
matrimony vine
speciesLycium barbarum
African boxthorn
speciesLycium ferocissimum
Anderson Thornbush
speciesLycium andersonii
Christmas berry
speciesLycium carolinianum
Berlandier's wolfberry
speciesLycium berlandieri
California boxthorn
speciesLycium californicum
Chinese teaplant
speciesLycium chinense
Southern Boxthorn
speciesLycium intricatum
Pale Wolfberry
speciesLycium pallidum
Baja desert-thorn
speciesLycium brevipes
Peach Thorn
speciesLycium cooperi
Arizona desert-thorn
speciesLycium exsertum
Chilean Boxthorn
speciesLycium chilense
Fremont's desert-thorn
speciesLycium fremontii
Cape honey-thorn
speciesLycium oxycarpum
Brownstem Honeythorn
speciesLycium cinereum
desert plum
speciesLycium boerhaviifolium
Arabian boxthorn
speciesLycium shawii
Buck Honeythorn
speciesLycium horridum
Herzog cestrum
speciesLycium cestroides
kraal honey-thorn
speciesLycium afrum
Mouse Honeythorn
speciesLycium tetrandrum
Torrey wolfberry
speciesLycium torreyi
European wolfberry
speciesLycium europaeum
'ohelo kai
speciesLycium sandwicense
Schweinfurth's Tea-tree
speciesLycium schweinfurthii
Lycium tenuispinosum
speciesLycium tenuispinosum
Sweet Honeythorn
speciesLycium pumilum
Australian Boxthorn
speciesLycium australe
Russian box thorn
speciesLycium ruthenicum
Bushmanland Honeythorn
speciesLycium bosciifolium
Lycium ciliatum
speciesLycium ciliatum
Parish's desert-thorn
speciesLycium parishii
Lycium vimineum
speciesLycium vimineum
Lycium infaustum
speciesLycium infaustum
Lycium bridgesii
speciesLycium bridgesii
Lycium gilliesianum
speciesLycium gilliesianum
Shockley's desert-thorn
speciesLycium shockleyi
Inagua Lycium
speciesLycium americanum
River Honeythorn
speciesLycium hirsutum
Lycium confertum
speciesLycium confertum
Namibian Honeythorn
speciesLycium eenii
Snake Honeythorn
speciesLycium amoenum
Split Honeythorn
speciesLycium schizocalyx
Lycium minimum
speciesLycium minimum
Lycium humile
speciesLycium humile
Lycium chanar
speciesLycium chanar
Lycium ameghinoi
speciesLycium ameghinoi
Lycium dasystemum
speciesLycium dasystemum
Lycium stenophyllum
speciesLycium stenophyllum
Lycium sokotranum
speciesLycium sokotranum
Lycium leiostemum
speciesLycium leiostemum
Downy Desert-thorn
speciesLycium puberulum
Lycium cuneatum
speciesLycium cuneatum
Lycium mascarenense
speciesLycium mascarenense
Soft Leaved Box Thorn
speciesLycium acutifolium
Dew Honeythorn
speciesLycium pilifolium
Lycium depressum
speciesLycium depressum
Desert Wolfberry
speciesLycium macrodon
Kleinkaroo Honeythorn
speciesLycium tenue
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Complete Treatise on Agricultural Administration
Xu Guangqi · 1909 · p.653
Garden of Health
Jacob Meydenbach · 1491 · p.244
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1560 · p.232
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1563 · p.232
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.366
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.364
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.365
A New Herbal, or History of Plants
Rembert Dodoens (trans. Henry Lyte) · 1578 · p.725
Compendium of Materia Medica
李時珍 · 1596 · p.72
Jan Moninckx; Maria Moninckx — Moninckx Atlas, vol. 2 (1686)
Jan Moninckx; Maria Moninckx · 1686 · p.21
Christoph Jakob Trew — Uitgezochte planten (1771)
Christoph Jakob Trew · 1771 · p.224
Herbarium Portatile, Oder Behendes Kräuter- und Gewächs-Buch: Darinn nicht allein 1363. so wol Einheimische als Außländndische Kräuter mit Lateinisch und Deutscher Benennung abgebildet, sondern auch die meisten, so in der Medicin gebräuchlich, kürtzlich erkläret werden
Panckow, Thomas · 1656 · p.331
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Lycium in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 58333.