Single Record

Participant Info

Species
Lycium barbarum [Lycium halimifolium] [Lycium vulgare]
Family
Solanaceae
CommonName
wolfberry, matrimony-vine
Presence
YES
Status
exotic
EarliestDate
1983
LatestDate
2022
Ecosystem
basin, shrubland, montane, ruderal, urban
Geobotanical
SSawatch, SSanjuans, NCristos
Counties
Rio Grande, Saguache
Passes
WildlifePreserves
Other Localities
Del Norte
Comments
In the Watershed wolfberry was first collected from the Upper Saguache Ranger Station in 1983 (just W of the town of Saguache). Since then, herbarium records of this exotic are few: Baca NWR (2006-2012), and 2 miles W of Center by Hwy 285 (2009). But currently Lycium barbarum can be found, unrecorded, along many highways and in towns in the upper Valley. In Del Norte there are large thickets by streets and old irrigation canals, prompting the town to try, unsuccessfully, to eradicate it. The photorecords from Del Norte (2014-2022) would add Rio Grande to counties indicated in Ackerfield (2022) and BONAP (2022). The species used to be planted as an ornamental, believe it or not. BONAP shows it scattered in every state of the USA except for Mississippi and Alabama. It has been recorded from a few locations, probably old ornamental plantings, in the Rio Grande drainage of New Mexico, but not farther down the river.