Shrublets, shrubs, or small trees; branchlets often spiny
Leaves often in fascicles
Flowers solitary
Calyx 3-5-lobed; lobes equal or unequal, often ± as long as tube; tube usually somewhat campanulate
Corolla 4- or 5-lobed; tube campanulate, funnel-shaped, urceolate or cylindric; lobes much shorter than, to nearly as long as, the tube
Stamens 4 or 5, alternating with corolla lobes, arising in corolla tube, included or exserted; filaments linear, often dilated and hairy at base; anthers 2-thecous
Disc annular or cupular
Ovary 2-locular, with few to many ovules; style simple, terete, included or slightly exserted; stigma capitate, cyathiform or shortly 2-lobed
Fruit a globose, ovoid, or conical berry
Seeds suborbicular, compressed
x = 6 (9, 10, 13) (aneuploids, polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
Lycium L.
Linnaeus: 191 (1753)
Wright: 109 (1904)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 100, fairly cosmopolitan in warm and temperate regions, especially the Americas
Southern Africa: Species ± 16, widespread in all regions
References:
LINNAEUS, C. 1753. Species plantarum, edn 1. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
WRIGHT, C.H. 1904. Solanaceae. Flora capensis 4,2
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Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
The system is still under development, so you may find a few bugs/issues. If you do, please report it via the error reporting button available in various sections of the website or provide us with any useful feedback you may have via the ‘Give us feedback’ option available in the sidebar menu. You can create a free account for yourself by clicking on the user profile icon which will take you through to the login page. Here you can choose the ‘Create an account’ option or simply fill in your details if you have an account already. Having an account on Biodiversity Advisor will provide users with free access to biodiversity resources.
In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
