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Fremont's desert-thorn

Lycium fremontii

Also called Frémont's Desert Thorn

Fremont's desert-thorn
Photo: Mike, CC BY-SA 4.0

Fremont's desert-thorn is a bushy, thorny, spreading desert shrub in the nightshade family, native to the southern deserts of California and Arizona and northwestern Mexico. It thrives in hot, dry conditions and tolerates alkaline, sandy or salty soils, so give it full sun and very good drainage.

Family
Solanaceae (Nightshade family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently, letting the soil dry out fully between waterings; established plants need little or no extra water.
Soil
Sandy or gritty, well-draining soil; tolerates alkaline and saline soils.
Temperature
Tolerates hot desert summers and light frost; protect below about -5 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
S. California to Arizona and NW. Mexico, S. Guadalupe
Climate
desert or dry shrubland

About

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.

Both its common name, Frémont's desert thorn, and its specific epithet, "fremontii", are derived from John C. Frémont.

Other Lycium plants

Saracha quitensis · Kraal honeythorn · Water jacket · Australian Boxthorn · Matrimony vine · Berlandier's wolfberry · Baja desert-thorn · California desert-thorn · Carolina desert-thorn · Chinese desert-thorn · Small-leaved honeythorn · Peach thorn

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lycium fremontii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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