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 An
Illustrated Guide to
Common Weeds
of New Zealand
Lycium
ferocissimum
boxthorn
Family
SOLANACEAE
Reproduced from
Common
Weeds of New Zealand
by Ian Popay, Paul Champion & Trevor James
ISBN 0 473 09760 5
by kind permission of the
New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
Publication or other use of images or descriptive
text on these pages is unauthorised unless written permission is
obtained from the authors and publisher.
Appropriate acknowledgement
of the publication Common Weeds of New Zealand must always
be given.
Available from Nationwide Book Distributors
Densely-branched,
erect, woody, evergreen perennial. Coastal shrub and hedge plant
up to 6 m tall, with strong spines at the tips of the branches.
Flowers white or pale mauve, followed by 10 mm wide orange-red berries.
- Flowers
Whitish to pale mauve, 10-12 mm in diameter, slender corolla tube
10-13 mm long. Flowers Jul-Mar.
- Fruit
Poisonous orange-red round berries 5-12
mm in diameter. Seeds dispersed by birds.
- Leaves
Narrow, oblong, up to 40 mm long by 12 mm wide, hairless, almost
stalkless. Alternate on young shoots, in clusters on mature stems.
- Stems
Tough, woody, alternately branched, with strong 13 mm terminal
spines.
Habitat
 Hedges,
waste places, sand dunes and coastal places.
Distribution
Common as stock-proof
hedging in dairying districts of coastal Auckland and Taranaki
in NI. Occasional in coastal localities in SI as far south as
Foveaux Strait. Originally from South Africa.
Comments
Used as an excellent
hedging plant in some areas, and rarely spreads into good pasture,
but is a troublesome weed in some broken country. Subject to Pest
Plant Management Strategies in several regions of NZ. Details
are available from individual regional councils or unitary authorities.
Derivation
of name
Lycium Gr.
name for a thorny tree; ferocissimum (Lat.) = very savage.
Web-notes:
Weed Links
On this site
Reproduced from Common Weeds
of New Zealand:
External Links
 Weedbusters
New Zealand
- Weedbusters is a weeds awareness and education programme that aims to
protect New Zealand's environment from the increasing weed problem.
- AgPest
- A free tool to assist farmers and agricultural professionals in decision-making regarding weed and pest identification, biology, impact and management.
 New Zealand Weeds Key
- An interactive identification key to the weeds of New Zealand. Developed at Landcare Research.
New
Zealand Plant Conservation Network naturalised plants
- Search for information on more than 2500 naturalised and weedy plants.
 New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
- Their main objective: "To pool and exchange information on the biology
of weeds, invertebrate and vertebrate pests, pathogens and beneficial organisms
and methods for modifying their effects."
-
 Massey
University Weeds Database- A site providing information about New Zealand weeds and weed control.
It has a series of pages showing pictures of New Zealand weeds, notes on
identification and control. It also provides information on a university
paper entitled Controlling Weeds.
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