Torrey wolfberry (Plants of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque)

Torrey wolfberry

Lycium torreyi

Summary ⁸

Lycium torreyi is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known commonly as Torrey wolfberry or Torrey's box thorn. It is a shrub that is native to the Southwestern United States that produces edible berries related to the goji berry.

Botanical Information ⁹

The Lycium torreyi, wolfberry is a flowering shrub that is native to northern New Mexico and the southwestern Untied States from California to Texas. It can grow as tall as 9.8 feet. It may or may not have spines. It has small, thick leaves that grow along the sides of the plant in an alternate pattern mostly in clusters. Above and below the leaves there are small purple, funnel-shaped flowers followed by bright red berries that grow towards the top of the shrub.

Ecological Information ¹⁰

Some of the growing conditions for Torrey's wolfberry are low water usage, lots of sunlight required, and the soil should not be too moist. Some of the benefits of this plant are that it's berries can be eaten by birds and small mammals. The berries grow towards the top of the shrub which makes it more convenient for the birds to eat them.

Ethnobotanical Information ¹⁰

The berries from the plant are edible for birds and humans. For humans, they are more appetizing when they are dried out like raisins. They also make this into oil, used as a powerful antioxidant. Related species have been used in Asian culture to strengthen the immune system. Wolfberry species have medicinal qualities including opening the respiratory tract when there is congestion, allergy prevention, calming nausea and spasms in the digestive tract, reducing pain and swelling in insect bites and stings.

References ¹¹

The University of Texas at Austin, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. (2021-03-12). Plant Database, Lycium torreyi. https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LYTO

Bosque Field Guide
Cartron, Lightfoot, Mygatt, Brantley, Lowrey. (2008). A Field Guide to the Plants and Animals of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque. (p. 100). New Mexico, University of New Mexico Press.

Dara, Saville. (2021). The Ecology of Herbal Medicine, A Guide to Plants and Living Landscapes of the American Southwest. (p.) Albuquerque, New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press.

About the Author ¹²

Student author(s)*: Sophia from Menaul High School

*The entries in this field guide have been edited by Yerba Mansa Project staff to ensure that they contain quality, fact-checked content and standardized formatting. https://yerbamansaproject.org/

Sources and Credits

(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/34032903406/
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/33261442533/
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/34032949586/
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/36842647886/
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/36842679076/
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/33916684522/
Adapted by Hannah from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycium_torreyi
Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) smiller33, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Adapted by Hannah from a work by (c) smiller33, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Adapted by Hannah from a work by (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

Range Map

iNat Map

Color	purple
Berry	red
Type	Shrub
Uses	edible, medicinal

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