Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Matrimony Vine - Lycium barbarum   L.
Members of Solanaceae:
Members of Lycium with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Solanales » Family Solanaceae
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AuthorL.
DistributionWidely scattered in the outer Coastal Plain, lower Piedmont, and the Mountains. Specimens from Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg, and Orange counties are misidentified or from cultivated plants.

Native of southern Europe; in N.A. scattered throughout southern Canada and the U.S.
AbundanceVery rare.
HabitatRoadsides, yard weed, thicket by river, bank by maritime channel.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting May-November.
IdentificationMatrimony Vine is a shrub with alternate leaves on young shoots, later with tufts of leaves of various sizes and also a thorn. The flowers grow in leaf axils, 10-12 mm across, dull pink-purple. Fruits are ovoid and bright red, drooping.
Taxonomic CommentsA synonym is L. halimifolia.

Other Common Name(s)
State RankSE
Global RankGNR
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B.A. SorrieRoadside hedgerow, Black Hills, SD, June 2018. Photo_non_NCPhoto_non_NC
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