Lycium ferocissimum
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = African boxthorn
|image = African boxthorn flower.jpg
|genus = Lycium
|species = ferocissimum
|authority = Miers
}}
Lycium ferocissimum, the African boxthorn or boxthorn, is a shrub in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) indigenous to South Africa.
Distribution
The species is native to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces in South Africa, where it tends to occur in sands along the southern coast. It has also been recorded in the Free State, but these may represent introductions. It has been widely introduced in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa, as far north as Morocco.Venter, A.M. (2000). Taxonomy of the Genus Lycium L. (Solanaceae) in Africa. Thesis (Ph.D. (Botany and Genetics))--University of the Free State. https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/handle/11660/1960?show=full It has been recorded in Sardinia,{{Cite web |title=Lycium ferocissimum Miers |url=https://www.actaplantarum.org/flora/flora_info.php?id=509472 |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=Acta Plantarum}} Italy. This shrub is found in other Mediterranean countries such as Tunisia and Spain.{{Cite web |title=Lycium ferocissimum, flora di Sardegna |url=http://www.sardegnaflora.it/linkarbusti/lycium_ferocissimum.html |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=www.sardegnaflora.it}} There is one record in France from 2020.{{Cite web |last=Guillaume |first=FRIED |date=2020-02-21 |title=Premier signalement de Lycium ferocissimum Miers (Solanaceae) à l'état naturalisé en France (Aude) |url=https://especes-exotiques-envahissantes.fr/premier-signalement-de-lycium-ferocissimum-miers-solanaceae-a-letat-naturalise-en-france-aude/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=CDR-EEE |language=fr-FR}}
It has become naturalised in Australia and New Zealand. It is listed in Australia's Weed of National Significance list and is a declared noxious weed in the United States.{{GRIN | access-date=28 January 2008}}{{cite web|url=http://www.weeds.org.au/docs/weednet6.pdf |title=Noxious Weed List for Australian States and Territories |access-date=28 January 2008 |publisher=Australian Weeds Committee |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830083549/http://www.weeds.org.au/docs/weednet6.pdf |archive-date=30 August 2007 }}
Description
African boxthorn is a large shrub which grows up to {{convert|5|m}} high and is covered in spines. The spines are of randomly varying lengths along the branch and, unlike most other species of Lycium (except for Lycium amoenum), they take the form of stout "peg-thorns".
The leaves are oval in shape and are {{convert|10|-|40|mm}} long and {{convert|4|-|10|mm}} in width. The broadly obovate or elliptical shape of the leaves can serve to distinguish this species from many other similar species of Lycium, which tend to have narrower leaves.
The solitary flowers emerge from the leaf axils. The corolla is funnel-shaped with large, reflexed, pale purple lobes (petals). The calyx is tubular and encloses most of the corolla (a character shared with Lycium pumilum). This latter character, the calyx that is at least two thirds of the length of the corolla, serves to distinguish this species from many of its relatives.
The species was first formally described in 1854 by British botanist John Miers in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. His description was based on plant material collected from Uitenhage in South Africa.{{cite web |url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?TAXON_NAME=Lycium+ferocissimum |title=Lycium ferocissimum|access-date=2 August 2011|work=Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database|publisher=Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra}}
Habitat and ecology
This species grows on dry, stony and/or sandy terrain,{{Cite web |title=Lycium ferocissimum {{!}} PlantZAfrica |url=https://pza.sanbi.org/lycium-ferocissimum |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=pza.sanbi.org}} such as sand dunes, cliffs, banks and roadsides.{{Cite web |title=Lycium ferocissimum |url=https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/lycium-ferocissimum/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network |language=en}} Its seeds are dispersed by small mammals and birds, which eat the red berries of this plant.
''Lycium ferocissimum'' in Cyprus
File:Lycium ferocissimum in Cyprus.jpg|Lycium ferocissimum fruit in Cyprus
File:Lycium ferocissimum Cyprus fruit inside view.jpg |Lycium ferocissimum Cyprus fruit inside view
File:Lycium ferocissimum in Cyprus Flower.jpg | Lycium ferocissimum flower in Cyprus
References
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q151022}}
Category:Flora of the Cape Provinces