Lycium brevipes     
Wolfberry    
Solanaceae Family     

Form: large mounding shrub
Seasonality: evergreen

berry cluster on Lycium brevipes

Size: to 12ft with equal spread; moderate growth rate
Leaves: tiny, thick, simple, green to blueish or graying green
Flowers: white to lavender; attractive close up but not as showy as berry display
Fruit: small red berries; abundant and showy
Stems/Trunks: gray, woody
Range/Origin: Southern California and northwest Mexico
Hardiness: hardy

LANDSCAPE VALUE:

• food for birds
• good on banks
• dense shrub for boundaries and hedges

 

mature specimen of Lycium brevipes

CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Exposure: full sun; takes reflected sun
• Water: monthly
• Soil: any; good drainage
• Propagation: seeds or cuttings
• Maintenance: low to none; prune to control size if desired

 

Research by Master Gardener Toni Moore

flower detail

NOTES:

aka Desert thorn, Baja desert thorn
aka Lycium hassei or Lycium brevipes var. hassei
many plants in the Lycium genus are known as Wolfberry or Desert thorn

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This page was first created March 14, 2006 and last modified March 14, 2006.

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Web page design and photographs by Toni Moore, Master Gardener
email to: tmoore1@flash.net

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