Goji, goji berry, or wolfberry is the sweet fruit of either Lycium barbarum or Lycium chinense, two closely related species of boxthorn in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. L. barbarum and L. chinense fruits are similar but can be distinguished by differences in taste and sugar content.
Lycium is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The genus has a disjunct distribution around the globe, with species occurring on most continents in temperate and subtropical regions. South America has the most species, followed by North America and southern Africa. There are several scattered across Europe and Asia, and one is native to Australia. Common English names for plants of this genus include box-thorn, wolfberry, and desert-thorn. There are about 70 to 80 species.
Lycium barbarum is a shrub native to China, with present-day range across Asia and southeast Europe. It is one of two species of boxthorn in the family Solanaceae from which the goji berry or wolfberry is harvested, the other being Lycium chinense.
Goji refers to the fruit of Lycium barbarum and Lycium chinense, two very closely related species of boxthorn in the family Solanaceae.
Lycium californicum is a spreading shrub in the nightshade family known by the common names California boxthorn and California desert-thorn.
Lycium andersonii is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its common names include water-jacket, redberry desert-thorn, Anderson thornbush, Anderson's desert thorn, Anderson boxthorn, Anderson lycium, Anderson wolfberry, and squawberry.
Lycium ferocissimum, the African boxthorn or boxthorn, is a shrub in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) indigenous to South Africa.
Lycium brevipes is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common name Baja desert-thorn. It is native to northwestern Mexico and it occurs in California as far as the Sonoran Desert as well as some of the Channel Islands. It grows in the scrub of desert and coastline. It is also used as a southwestern landscaping plant. This is a bushy, spreading shrub approaching a maximum height of 4 metres (13 ft) with many long, thorny, tangled branches. The branches are lined with small, fleshy green leaves up to 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) long and coated with glandular hairs. The inflorescence is a small cluster of tubular flowers roughly 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) long including the calyx of sepals at the base. The lavender to nearly white corolla is funnel-shaped and has 2 to 6 lobes at the mouth. The five stamens and one style protrude from the flower. The fruit is a bright red spherical berry about a centimeter wide containing many seeds. The berries attract birds.
Lycium cooperi is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common name peach thorn. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in a variety of desert and mountain habitat types. This is a bushy, erect shrub approaching a maximum height of 4 metres (13 ft) with many rigid, thorny branches. The branches are lined thickly with fleshy oval or widely lance-shaped leaves each 1–3 centimetres (0.39–1.18 in) long and coated with glandular hairs. The inflorescence is a small cluster of tubular flowers roughly 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) long including the calyx of fleshy sepals at the base. The flower is white or greenish with lavender or green veining. The corolla is a tube opening into a face with four or five lobes. The fruit is a yellow or orange berry under a centimeter wide containing many seeds.
Lycium fremontii is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family, Solanaceae, that is native to northwestern Mexico and the southernmost mountains and deserts of California and Arizona in the United States. It often grows in areas with alkaline soils, such as alkali flats.
Coleophora ningxiana is a moth of the family Coleophoridae which is endemic to China (Ningxia).
Lycium torreyi is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common name Torrey wolfberry. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States from California to Texas.
Pedicularis verticillata, the whorled lousewort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae which can be found in Alaska, North-Western Canada, and everywhere in China at the elevation of 2,100–4,400 metres (6,900–14,400 ft). Its native habitats include moist meadows and lakeshores.
Lycium ruthenicum, is a flowering plant commonly known as Russian box thorn in the West. is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family which can be found in Central Asia, southern part of Russia, throughout Northwest China, Northern India and Pakistan. Also commonly known as black fruit wolfberry, siyah goji, and kaokee.
Primula hookeri is a perennial species of primrose which is found at the altitudes of 3,900–5,000 metres (12,800–16,400 ft) in Eastern Himalayas as well as in Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Northeast India and southeastern Tibet and northwestern Yunnan provinces of China.
Galeopsis pubescens, also known as the hairy and downy hempnettle, is a herbaceous annual plant species in the family Lamiaceae, that can be found growing in various European countries.
Cyananthus formusus is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is native to grassy slopes and forests of northwest Yunnan in China. In Mandarin the species is known as 美丽蓝钟花. Originally described by Ludwig Diels in 1912 in the Notes of the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh, the species is a small, blue-flowered plant suitable for Alpine gardens.
Lycium horridum is a shrub in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) indigenous to South Africa as well as southern Namibia and Botswana.
Lycium cinereum is a shrub in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) indigenous to southern Africa. It is widespread across South Africa, as well as southern Namibia and Botswana.
Lycium tenue is a shrub in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) indigenous to South Africa.
