Lycium decumbens

Welw. ex Hiern.

Solanaceae Edible: Fruit 16 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A small shrub. It often lies along the ground. It loses its leaves during the year. The stems are spiny and the leaves are succulent. It can grow 1.5 m high. The leaves are simple and oval or spoon shaped. They are on small spiny branches. The flowers are mauve and tube shaped. They are 1 cm long. The fruit are small round red berries.

Edible Uses

The fruit are eaten raw.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are eaten raw.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in deep, sandy and stony soils. It can grow in desert and on dunes. It grows between 3-300 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Central Africa, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa,

Synonyms

Lycium marlothii Damm.

Also Known As

Umbhovu

References (5)

Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 343
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 11th June 2011]
Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 102
Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew