Lycium australe

Lycium australe, the Australian boxthorn, is a native Australian plant with large sharp woody spines, small leaves and very small berries. It is closely related to Lycium ferocissimum (African boxthorn), which is listed as an invasive weed in Australia,[3] New Zealand and Cyprus.[4]

Lycium australe
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Lycium
Species:
L. australe
Binomial name
Lycium australe

It is possible to differentiate between these two species using the following features:[3]

L. ferocissimum L. australe
Leaf length (mm) 6 - 40 3 - 25
Leaf width (mm) 2 - 20 1.5 - 3
Shape of berries Round Ovoid
Width of berries (mm) 5 - 10 2 - 5
Seeds per berry 30 - 70 5 - 20

Distribution

Lycium australe is endemic to the mainland of Australia, and is found in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.[5]

Habitat

This plant grows in arid and semi-arid areas, in subsaline soils at the edges of claypans and salt lakes.[5]

Taxonomy and naming

The plant was first described by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1859,[1][2] and its specific epithet, australe, comes from the Latin adjective, australis, -is, -e, ("south/southern"), thus describing the plant as coming from the southern hemisphere.[6] It has no synonyms.[1][7]

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References
  1. "Lycium australe". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  2. Mueller, F.J.H. von (1859). "Lycium australe". Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. 1 (4): 83.
  3. "Weeds of Australia: Lycium ferocissimum". keyserver.lucidcentral.org. Biosecurity Queensland Edition. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  4. "Lycium ferocissimum Miers". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  5. L.Haegi, R.W.Purdie (2020). "Lycium australe". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  6. "australis,-is,-e". www.plantillustrations.org. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  7. "Lycium australe F.Muell. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 28 March 2020.


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