✽
Field guide
Pale wolfberry (Lycium pallidum)
Stan Shebs · CC BY-SA 3.0

also Pale desert-thorn · Rabbit thorn

Pale wolfberry

Lycium pallidum

Family:
Solanaceae
Elevation:
4,000 ft – 7,000 ft
Bloom:
Apr – Jun
Region:
Southwest

A spiny, spreading shrub with pale blue-green leaves and nodding, greenish-cream to lavender-tinged tubular flowers that give way to reddish berries. Often found around old dwellings and archaeological sites, it hums with hummingbirds and bees in spring.

Care · tuned to the Southwest

Water

Drought tolerant once established; occasional deep watering speeds establishment, after which little is needed. Overwatering is unnecessary and can cause decline; it leafs and flowers with spring and monsoon moisture, sometimes dropping leaves in extreme drought.

Sun & exposure

Full sun; an open-exposure shrub of dry slopes, arroyos, and flats.

Soil

Tolerates dry, rocky, sandy, and alkaline soils with good drainage; often on disturbed or calcareous ground.

In the Southwest

Cold-hardy across the high-desert and piñon-juniper zone. Spreads by suckers into loose, spiny thickets that shelter and feed birds, and the berries are eaten by wildlife and were gathered by Indigenous peoples. The tubular flowers attract hummingbirds and native bees. Thorny, so site away from paths.

Common problems & fixes

  • Drought leaf drop — sheds leaves and looks dead in heat, which is normal drought-deciduousness

    Fix — Recognize summer leaf drop as natural dormancy and wait; it releafs after rain or cooler weather.

  • Aphids on new growth distort spring shoots and buds

    Fix — Blast aphids off with water or tolerate them, as beneficials usually control light infestations.

  • Thorny and suckering near paths

    Fix — Site it away from walkways and prune or remove suckers to keep the thorny thicket in bounds.

Pets & toxicity

A nightshade-family plant, so some caution is warranted, but Lycium berries are generally regarded as edible and are eaten by wildlife and people; foliage is not a documented pet hazard. Discourage pets from ingesting large amounts of any nightshade foliage as a precaution.

Easy to confuse with

  • Anderson's wolfberry (Lycium andersonii) — smaller, more succulent leaves, more southern range
  • Fremont's wolfberry (Lycium fremontii) — larger purple flowers, warmer-desert distribution

Sources

Think you're looking at one?

Snap a photo and we'll rank the candidates against the local flora — honestly, and for free.

Identify a plant