Goji Berry Plants

Product Description

Leaves and flower

Wolfberry leaves form on the shoot either in an alternating arrangement or in bundles of up to three, each having a shape that is either lanceolate (shaped like a spearhead longer than it is wide) or ovate (egg-like). Leaf dimensions are 7-cm wide by 3.5-cm broad with blunted or round tips.

The flowers grow in groups of one to three in the leaf axils. The calyx (eventually ruptured by the growing berry) consists of bell-shaped or tubular sepals forming short, triangular lobes. The corolla are lavender or light purple, 9–14 mm wide with five or six lobes shorter than the tube. The stamens are structured with filaments longer than the anthers. The anthers are longitudinally dehiscent.

In the northern hemisphere, flowering occurs from June through September and berry maturation from August to October, depending on the latitude, altitude, and climate.

Fruit

These species produce a bright orange-red, ellipsoid berry 1–2-cm deep. The number of seeds in each berry varies widely based on cultivar and fruit size, containing anywhere between 10–60 tiny yellow seeds that are compressed with a curved embryo. The berries ripen from July to October in the northern hemisphere.

Etymology

Lycium, the genus name, is derived from the ancient southern Anatolian region of Lycia (Λυκία). The fruit is known in pharmacological references as Lycii fructus, which is Latin for “Lycium fruit”.
“Wolfberry”, a commonly used English name, has unknown origin, perhaps resulting from confusion over the genus name, Lycium, which resembles “lycos”, the Greek word for wolf.

In the English-speaking world, the name “goji berry” has been used since the early 21st century. The word “goji” is an approximation of the pronunciation of gǒuqǐ, the name for L. chinense in several Chinese dialects, including Hokkien and Shanghainese. This name possibly derives from the same roots as the Persian language term gojeh which means “plum/berry”.

Significance

Since the early 21st century there has been rapidly growing attention for wolfberries for their nutrient value and antioxidant content. They have been termed a superfruit, which has led to a profusion of consumer products. In traditional medicine, the whole fruit or its extracts have numerous implied health effects which remain scientifically unconfirmed in 2013.