Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Solanales > Solanaceae > Lycium > Lycium carolinianum

Lycium carolinianum (Carolina desert-thorn; Carolina wolfberry)

Synonyms: Evoista caroliniana (homotypic); Lycium carolinianum var. carolinianum; Lycium carolinianum var. normale; Panzeria caroliniana (homotypic)

Infraspecies

Lycium carolinianum var. arizonicum
Lycium carolinianum var. quadrifidum

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium
Screening - Summer [2]  Moderate
Screening - Winter [2]  Porous
Bloom Period [2]  Fall
Drought Tolerance [2]  None
Edible [3]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [2]  Medium
Flower Type [3]  Hermaphrodite
Frost Free Days [2]  8 months 10 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [2]  Low
Fruit/Seed Begin [2]  Fall
Fruit/Seed End [2]  Fall
Growth Form [2]  Single Stem
Growth Period [2]  Spring
Growth Rate [2]  Slow
Hazards [3]  Although no records of toxicity have been seen for this species, it does belong to a family that contains many poisonous plants. Some caution should be applied, especially towards leaves or unripe fruits, though ripe fruits are almost certainly edible.
Leaf Type [3]  Evergreen
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Pollinators [3]  Bees
Propagation [2]  Bare Root, Container, Seed
Root Depth [2]  10 inches (25 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [2]  Slow
Seed Vigor [2]  Low
Shape/Orientation [2]  Erect
Structure [3]  Shrub
Usage [3]  Plants have an extensive root system and can be planted to stabilize banks;
Vegetative Spread Rate [2]  None
Flower Color [2]  Purple
Foliage Color [2]  Green
Fruit Color [2]  Red
Flower Conspicuous [2]  Yes
Fruit Conspicuous [2]  Yes
Height [3]  4.92 feet (1.5 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [2]  USDA Zone: 8 Low Temperature: 10 F° (-12.2 C°) → 20 F° (-6.7 C°)
Light Preference [2]  Full Sun
Soil Acidity [2]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [2]  Infertile
Water Use [2]  High
View Plants For A Future Record : Lycium carolinianum

Protected Areas

Predators

Pulvinaria urbicola (urbicola soft scale)[4]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 3Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 4Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0