Chinese Boxthorn - introduced (*Lycium barbarum)

Family: Solanaceae (Potato family).

Native of China.

Occurrence: Occasional weed, mostly in urban areas.

Identification:

• it is a spreading somewhat scrambling shrub
• the flowers are purple with five petals
• the fruit is a red berry
• some side branches may end in spines.

Some specimens of Chinese Boxthorn may be spineless. It has been cultivated as a leaf vegetable, and for medicinal purposes. Similar species: African Boxthorn (*Lycium ferocissimum) is a stouter, more branched plant with sharp spines.

Photos all: All: Chinese Boxthorn. Kennedy Street, Castlemaine.