Lycium ferocissimum

African boxthorn

Family: Solanaceae · Type: shrub

African boxthorn is a naturalized shrub found in coastal salt marshes, dunes, and brushy sites at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering throughout the year, this plant produces white to blue-purple flowers with spreading to reflexed lobes, sometimes featuring purple veins or blotches. Growing 2 to 3 meters tall with erect and arching branches, it has smooth gray to pinkish brown bark that becomes rough with age. Its leaves are bright green, 12 to 35 millimeters long, oblanceolate to obovate, and slightly fleshy with glabrous margins. The fruit is a distinctive bright red berry approximately 8 to 10 millimeters in size.

Habitat: Coastal salt marsh, dunes, brushy sites

Elevation: < 100 m

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