Lycium andersonii

Anderson's wolfberry

Family: Solanaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Anderson's wolfberry is a California native shrub found in southern Tehama, southern San Joaquin Valley, Southern California Coast, northern Western Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, southeastern Sierra Nevada, and Desert regions in gravelly or rocky slopes and washes at elevations below 900 meters. Flowering from February to May, this plant produces white to violet-tinged flowers 4 to 16 millimeters long with narrow funnel-shaped corollas. Growing 0.5 to 3 meters tall with spreading to erect branches that are nearly glabrous or slightly hairy, it forms an open, distinctive desert shrub. Its leaves are 3 to 15 millimeters long, thick and fleshy, with a linear to oblanceolate shape that helps the plant conserve water in arid environments. The fruit is a small red or orange berry 3 to 8 millimeters long, containing numerous seeds.

Habitat: Gravelly or rocky slopes, washes

Bloom period: Feb-May

Elevation: < 900 m

Bioregions: s Teh, s SnJV, SCo, n WTR, PR, SNE, D

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo, Kern, Imperial, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Orange, Ventura, Mono, Mariposa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.