Lycium chinense Mill., Solanaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 8 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Chinese boxthorn, Chinese desert-thorn, Chinese matrimony vine, Chinese wolfberry, wolfberry

French: lyciet de Chine

Japanese: kuko

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Shrubs erect or sprawling, 0.5-1 (-2) m tall. Stems much branched; branches pale gray, slender, curved or pendulous, with thorns 0.5-2 cm. Leaves solitary or in clusters of 2-4; leaf blade ovate, rhombic, lanceolate, or linear-lanceolate, 1.5-5 x 0.5-2.5 cm (to 10 x 4 cm in cultivation). Inflorescences solitary or paired flowers on long shoots or fasciculate among leaves on short shoots. Pedicel 1-2 cm. Calyx campanulate, 3-4 mm, 3-5-divided to halfway, lobes densely ciliate. Corolla pale purple, 0.9-l.2 cm; tube funnel-form, shorter than or subequaling lobes, lobes pubescent at margin. Stamens slightly shorter or longer than corolla, with a villous ring slightly above filament base and adjacent corolla tube. Berry red, ovoid or oblong, 0.7-1.5 cm x 5-8 mm (ca. 2.2 x 1 cm in cultivation). Seeds numerous, yellow, 2.5-3 mm"  (Flora of China Online).

Habitat/ecology:  In China (native), "slopes, wastelands, saline places, roadsides, near houses" (Flora of China Online).

Propagation:  Seed. Plants also sprout from suckers (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 540).

Native range:  China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand; SW Asia, Europe (Flora of China Online).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1926) (voucher ID: BISH 69720) Taxon name on voucher: Lycium chinense Mill.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
North Korea North Korea	North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
South Korea South Korea	South Korea (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2009)

Additional information:
Fact sheet from "Plants for a Future"

Additional online information about Lycium chinense is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Lycium chinense as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Lycium chinense may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1926. Voucher specimen #BISH69720(Wilder, G.P. 445).

Harvard University. 2007. Flora of China (online resource).

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

U. S. Government. 2009. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2009. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.