Lycium shawii Roem. & Schult.
L. afrum auct. Afr. N., L. arabicum Schweinf. ex Boiss., L. orientale Miers
Eng.: Desert thorn. Spa.: Cambronera. Fre.: Lyciet. Ara.: Auçedj, awsag, ghardeq, r’ardâq. Tam.: Inzzriki, ossis.
Shrub, spiny, deciduous, sometimes creeping, up to 2.5(3) m in height, rarely a small tree up to 4.5 m, with intricately branching stems, curved, very spiny. Young branches grey-whitish, sometimes pendulous, with spines 5-10(15) mm and leafless; old branches dark ash, sometimes dark brown or brown-purple, glabrous, divaricate, with spines 15-50 mm, with leaves. Leaves on older branches and spines on older branches in fascicles of 2-5, (10)20-40(50) × 8-10(15) mm, from narrowly ovate to elliptic, herbaceous or slightly succulent, acute or rounded at the apex, glabrous, vivid green on the upper side and somewhat paler on the underside. Flowers solitary, with pedicel (2)5-10(12) mm. Calyx 3-5 × 1.5-2 mm, tubular, with 5 teeth 0.5-1 mm, triangular, subacute, erect. Corolla with 5 fused petals, (10)12-15 mm, creamy-white, with white or pale mauve lobes with purple venation, hypocrateriform, with tube sometimes slightly curved glabrous on the outside and glabrous or laxly hairy inside at the base of the stamens, with lobes 3-4 × 2.3 mm, ovate-oblong, patent. Fruit a berry, 3-5 mm, slightly obovoid, red. Seeds c. 2 mm, elliptical.
Flowering:
November to June.
Fruiting:
1-2 months after flowering. Flowers and mature fruits can be seen at the same time.
Habitat:
Embankments of rivers, watercourses and depressions with some moisture in dry areas, usually on alkaline soils.
Distribution:
SW Asia, E and SE Africa, from Egypt to South Africa.
Observations:
In several reference material about North Africa, this species is confused with other native species (L. schweinfurthii Dammer) or with other cultivated and naturalised species (L. afrum L.); and among other erroneous facts, there are claims that its fruit is black.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.