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Scientific Name
Synonyms
Family
Common Names
Origin
Naturalised Distribution
Habitat
Habit
Distinguishing Features
Stems and Leaves
Flowers and Fruit
Reproduction and Dispersal
Environmental Impact
Other Impacts
Legislation
Management
Similar Species
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Click on images to enlarge

infestation (Photo: Land Protection, QDNRW)

habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

older branch with greyish bark and small spines (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

short side-branches ending in spines (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

clustered leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

leaves and flower (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

flower and immature fruit (Photo: Trevor James)

close-up of flower (Photo: Greg Jordan)

mature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

Lycium ferocissimum

Scientific Name

Lycium ferocissimum Miers

Synonyms

Lycium europaeum L. (misapplied)
Lycium macrocalyx Domin

Family

Solanaceae

Common Names

African boxthorn, box-thorn, boxthorn, Cape boxthorn

Origin

Native to southern Africa (i.e. South Africa).

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised throughout large parts of Australia. It is common and widespread in New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. Common in inland southern Queensland and south-western Australia, and occasionally present in other parts of these states as well as in the southern parts of the Northern Territory. Also naturalised on Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.

Habitat

A weed of semi-arid and arid regions and drier sub-tropical and temperate environments. It infests pastures, grasslands, open woodlands, roadsides, railways, disturbed sites, waste areas, coastal environs and inland waterways.

Habit

An upright (i.e. erect) and spiny shrub usually growing 2-3 m tall and about 3 m across, but occasionally reaching up to 6 m in height.

Distinguishing Features

Stems and Leaves

The stems are light brown and hairless (i.e. glabrous) when young, much-branched, and turn grey or brown and fissured as they mature. Spines up to 15 cm long are borne on the older stems, with much smaller spines on newer growth (about 2 cm long). Each small side-branch also ends in a small spine (about 13 mm long).

The leaves are hairless (i.e. glabrous), slightly fleshy in nature (i.e. semi-succulent), and have entire margins. They are borne on short stalks (i.e. petioles) 1-10 mm long and are either alternately arranged or borne in groups of 5-12 at the stem joints (i.e. nodes). These small leaves (6-40 mm long and 2-20 mm wide) are sometimes egg-shaped in outline (i.e. ovate) to oval (i.e. elliptic) in appearance, but are usually wider near the top and taper towards the base (i.e. obovate).

Flowers and Fruit

The fragrant tubular flowers (8-12 mm across and 10-13 mm long) are borne singly, or in pairs, on short stalks (i.e. pedicels) 5-16 mm long that originate in the leaf forks (i.e. axils). They are white or pale lilac with darker purple markings and have five, or sometimes four, petal lobes. These petals are strongly bent backwards (i.e. reflexed) and surround five prominent stamens. Flowering occurs throughout most of the year, but is most abundant during spring and summer.

The fruit is an egg-shaped (i.e. ovoid) or rounded (i.e. globose) berry turning from green to orange-red or bright red in colour as it matures. These fruit (5-12 mm long and 5-10 mm wide) are smooth and shiny in appearance and partially enclosed in the persistent fused sepals (i.e. calyx). Each fruit contains numerous (20-70) small seeds (2.5 mm long and 1.5 mm wide) that are light brown or yellow in colour and have small raised projections on their surfaces.

Reproduction and Dispersal

This species reproduces mostly by seed, which are commonly dispersed when the fruit are eaten by birds and other animals (e.g. foxes). Seeds may also be spread by water, machinery and in dumped garden waste or contaminated soil. Suckers are sometimes produced from root fragments and shoots may rarely also be produced from stem fragments.

Environmental Impact

African boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) is regarded as a significant environmental weed in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, and as an environmental weed in New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. It is actively managed by community groups in Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia and is listed as a priority environmental weed in 17 Natural Resource Management regions.

Other Impacts

The fruit of this species are thought to be poisonous to livestock and humans.

Legislation

This species is declared under legislation in the following states and territories:

Management

For information on the management of this species see the following resources:

Similar Species

African boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) is similar to the native Australian boxthorn (Lycium australe) and other introduced weedy relatives such as Chinese boxthorn (Lycium barbarum). These species can be distinguished by the following differences: