Common name:
Peach thorn
Family:
Scientific name:
Lycium cooperi
Main flower color:
Range:
The Mojave Desert, and some adjoining areas
Height:
Up to 13 feet
Habitat:
Flats and washes; sandy or rocky locations, from 1,000 to 6,000 feet
Leaves:
Alternate, obovate to oblanceolate, up to 1.2 inches long
Season:
March to June
Lycium cooperi is a small to medium-sized shrub with many rigid, woody, leafy branches, armed with thorns. Young branches have a covering of short hairs, sometimes glandular. Leaves are clustered, quite thick, and similarly hairy. The greenish-white flowers are produced in large numbers from the upper leaf nodes; one to several per cluster.
Flowers have a narrow, bell-shaped calyx, opening to five (less often four) triangular lobes, recurved when mature. The corolla also has five (or four) lobes, and is lightly hairy on the outside. Five stamens are slightly exserted , attached about half way down the corolla tube. Anthers are initially pale green, maturing to brown. The corolla is around 0.7 inches in length, about twice as long as the calyx. Fruits are two-chambered berries.
Flowers have a narrow, bell-shaped calyx, opening to five (less often four) triangular lobes, recurved when mature. The corolla also has five (or four) lobes, and is lightly hairy on the outside. Five stamens are slightly exserted , attached about half way down the corolla tube. Anthers are initially pale green, maturing to brown. The corolla is around 0.7 inches in length, about twice as long as the calyx. Fruits are two-chambered berries.
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