Australian Boxthorn
Leaf, ~30mm long
Murray Mallee Region
Australian Boxthorn
Flower, front, ~7mm wide
 
                      
Australian Boxthorn (Lycium australe)Class: Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida)
Order: Potatoes (Solanales)
Family: Nightshade (Solanaceae)
Species: Australian Boxthorn (Lycium australe)
This Photo:     Flower, profile

Thank you Andrew Allanson for identifying this species for us

General Species Information:
Found in the Murray Mallee SA, Riverland and possibly elsewhere
Typical boxthorn, and difficult to distinguish with the weed. Has small white flowers.
A difference between this native and the introduced African Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) is that the weed can be greener and luscious.
For us, the easiest difference to spot was that the stamens (in the flower) of the weed are very long and protude well beyond the petals. With the native they are short and nearly level with the petals.

Copyright © 2014-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 12-Mar-2014
This species is classed as LC (Least Concern) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)