Lycium barbarum

Lycium barbarum
Lycium barbarum with ripe berries
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Lycium
Species:
L. barbarum
Binomial name
Lycium barbarum
Synonyms[1]
  • Boberella halimifolia (Mill.) E.H.L.Krause
  • Jasminoides flaccidum Moench
  • Lycium halimifolium Mill.
  • Lycium turbinatum Veill.
  • Lycium vulgare Dunal
  • Teremis elliptica Raf.

Lycium barbarum is a shrub native to China,[2][3][4] with present-day range across Asia and southeast Europe.[5] It is one of two species of boxthorn in the family Solanaceae from which the goji berry or wolfberry is harvested, the other being Lycium chinense.

Common names of the plant in English include Chinese wolfberry,[2] barbary matrimony vine,[2] red medlar[6] or matrimony vine.[2] In the United Kingdom it is also known as Duke of Argyll's tea tree after Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll who introduced it in the country in the 1730s.[2]

The shrub is an important commercial crop in northern China, especially in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Its Chinese name is Ningxia gǒuqǐ.

  1. ^ "The Plant List".
  2. ^ a b c d e "Lycium barbarum". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference aussie2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference floraweb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Flint, Harrison Leigh (1997). "Lycium barbarum". Landscape plants for eastern North America: exclusive of Florida and the immediate Gulf Coast. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-471-59919-7.
  6. ^ McAdam, Diana (12 October 2007). "Goji berries: The new superfruit". The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group Limited, London, UK.