Chinese wolfberry, matrimony vine, goji

Lycium chinense var. potaninii (Pojarkova) A. M. Lu

Shrubs erect, 0.5–3 m; bark pale gray; stems glabrous. Leaves subsessile; blade ovate to linear-lanceolate, 15–100 × 5–40 mm, surfaces glabrous. Inflo­rescences 2–4-flowered fascicles or solitary flowers. Pedicels 10–20 mm. Flowers 5-merous; calyx campanulate, 2–4 mm, lobe lengths 0.3–1 times tube; corolla pale purple, funnelform, 9–14 mm, lobe lengths ± equal to tube; stamens slightly included to exserted. Berries red, ovoid, 7–22 mm, fleshy. Seeds 50+. 2n = 24.

Flowering May–Aug. Waste places, roadsides; to 1000 m; introduced; Ont.; Calif., Conn., Ga., Ill., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Mo., N.H., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., Tenn., Vt., Va.; Asia (China); intro­duced also in Europe and elsewhere in Asia (Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand).

Lycium chinense is difficult to differentiate from L. barbarum. It is likely that records for L. chinense in the flora area include both L. barbarum and L. chinense; they have been treated as conspecific in some floras. Jill S. Miller et al. (2011), using material collected in China, demonstrated that they are distinct. They are distinguished mainly by the length of the corolla lobes relative to the corolla tube. In China, L. chinense has been cultivated for centuries for its medicinal properties, as well as for use in cooking. Young shoots, leaves, and berries (both fresh and dried) are commonly consumed. The root bark is used for relief of fever and cough, and the seed oil is used in cooking and as a lubricant.