Lycium exsertum

Arizona wolfberry, arizona desert-thorn

Family: Solanaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.1

Arizona wolfberry is a rare (CNPS 2B.1) California native shrub found in desert canyons and washes at elevations around 260 meters. Flowering from February to May, this plant produces greenish white to lavender flowers 7 to 14 millimeters long with five narrow lobes. Growing 1 to 4 meters tall with rigidly spreading branches that are densely glandular-hairy, it forms an open, erect shrub structure. Its leaves are oblanceolate to obovate, 5 to 25 millimeters long, appearing somewhat spoon-shaped along the branches. The fruit is a fleshy, red, ovoid berry 6 to 8 millimeters long, containing 10 to 35 seeds.

Habitat: Washes, desert canyons

Bloom period: Feb-May

Elevation: 260 m

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