description
Lycium chinense and Lycium barbarum are the two species in the Solanaceae family from which
the wolfberry or goji berry is harvested.
Leaves are formed on the shoot either in an alternating arrangement or
in bundles of up to three. They are produced in either lanceolate (spear-like) or
ovate (egg-like) shapes. The leaf dimensions are 7-cm wide by 3.5-cm wide with blunted or round
tips respective to the shapes mentioned.
The flowers grow in groups of one to three in the leaf axils with lavender or light purple petals. The calyx
consists of bell-shaped or tubular
sepals forming short, triangular lobes it is eventually ruptured by the growing berry. The corolla is
9–14 mm wide with five or six lobes shorter than the tube. The stamens are
structured with filaments longer than the anthers. The anthers are
longitudinally dehiscent.
In the northern hemisphere, the plant will flower from June through September and
its berries will mature from August to October—this depends on the latitude, altitude,
and climate.
common names & nomenclature
The word lemon may be Middle Eastern in its origin.
Lycium, the genus name, is derived from the ancient southern Anatolian
region of Lycia.
It is theorized that Wolfberry, a commonly used English name, is perhaps resulting from confusion over the genus name, Lycium, which
resembles lycos, the Greek word for wolf.
The name "goji berry" however, has been used since the early 21st century in the English-speaking world. The word
goji being close to the name for L. chinense in several Chinese dialects,
this name possibly derives from the same roots as the Persian language term
gojeh which means "plum/berry".
Also known as:
wolfberry, chinese wolfberry, red medlar, bocksdorn, cambronera, duke of argyll’s tea tree, matrimony vine, chinese boxthorn, goji, goji berry, chinese teaplant
