Lycium australe
| Lycium australe | |
|---|---|
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| |
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 | |
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]
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
[edit | edit source]Lycium australe is endemic to the mainland of Australia, and is found in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.[5]
Habitat
[edit | edit source]This plant grows in arid and semi-arid areas, in subsaline soils at the edges of claypans and salt lakes.[5]
Taxonomy and naming
[edit | edit source]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]
References
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Lycium australe occurrence data from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium
- GBIF:Lycium australe occurrence data & images
- Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
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