Lycium oxycarpum old branch

This old stem of Lycium oxycarpum is pale grey and marked by the nodes of earlier leaf fascicles that have disappeared.

The oblanceolate leaves grow here on small mounds in fascicles of a few erect leaves. The leaf-tip is bluntly pointed or rounded, the base tapers into its short petiole. The leaves are hairless with uneven surfaces. The midrib is prominent on the lower leaf surface, slightly recessed above.

A solitary, woody spine representing the plant’s defence resources is on duty to discourage browsers; its services only partly effective, allowing both plant and browsers to live.

An Afrikaans common name for the plant, wolwedoring (wolves’ thorn) is interesting, as this land never had wolves apart from hyenas that roamed these southern parts of the country long ago. Hyena do not browse leaves. Maybe their teeth were likened to the spines in the eyes of the unknown nomenclator, the name giver (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Coates Palgrave, 2002).