Lycium (berlandieri)
|
Allegra Mount Seed Lab Manager Borderlands Restoration PO Box 1191 Patagonia, Arizona 85624 949-690-2592 borderlands.restoration@gmail.com www.borderlandsrestoration.org |
| Family Scientific Name: | Solanaceae | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Common Name: | Potato Family | ||
| Scientific Name: | Lycium berlandieri Dunal | ||
| Common Name: | Berlandier’s Wolfberry | ||
| Ecotype: | Madrean Archipelago | ||
| General Distribution: |
Berlandier’s wolfberry is a species typical of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran desert scrub ecosystems found in Northern Mexico and in the United States from Arizona to Texas (Matthews 1994). It grows along washes and on flats, rocky slopes and gravelly hills (Matthews 1994). In Arizona it flowers March-September (Matthews 1994). It is a particularly important food and shelter source for Gambel’s quail and scaled quail, although other birds and rodents utilize it as well (Matthews 1994). Berlandier wolfberry is drought tolerant, losing its leaves and becoming dormant under water stress (Matthews 1994). |
||
| Propagation Goal: | Plants | ||
| Propagation Method: | Seed | ||
| ProductType: | Container (plug) | ||
| Propagule Collection: |
Collect mature berries by hand. |
||
| Propagule Processing: |
Mash the very wet berries with a potato masher, fork, and/or fingers to separate pulp. Follow with a wet ferment (describe) for one week in a gallon jar. Water winnow and rinse through No. 20 sieve.It may be possible to skip the fermenting step and simply separate the pulp after mashing. Further experimentation is needed in the manual seed facility. Hobby sized rock tumblers can also be used to separate the pulp from the seeds (Dreeson 2004). Cleaned seeds should be stored in cool, dry, airtight containers ~5°C (Bonner and Karrfalt 2008). |
||
| Establishment Phase: |
Germination rates of some Lycium sp. increase with cold stratification, although it varies between species and some do not require stratification (Bonner and Karrfalt 2008). Untreated Lycium andersonii seeds have germination rates between 68% and 94% while Lycium barbarum seeds need 60-120 days of cold stratification in moist sand at 5°C to achieve germination results of 74% (Bonner and Karrfalt 2008). Information on germination rates and stratification of Berlandier wolfberry is lacking, so germination tests on untreated and stratified seed of this species would be beneficial. Berlandier wolfberry can also be propagated by cutting (Matthews 1994). |
||
| References: |
Bonner, Franklin T. and Robert P. Karrfalt, eds.The woody plant seed manual, USDA Forest Service Agricultural Handbook No. 727. Government Printing Office, Washington DC: U.S Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 2008. Dreeson, David. “Tumbling for Seed Cleaning and Conditioning.” 2004 LLPMC Annual Technical Report. Las Lunas, NM, 2004. Web. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/nmpmcrj5935.pdf. Matthews, Robin F. “Lycium berlandieri.” Fire Effects Information System. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, 1994. Web. http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2017, January 26]. Borderlands Restoration Network (2018). BRN Native Plant Materials Program Database. Unpublished Raw Data. |
||
Citation:
Allen-Cantú, Juniper; Claverie, Francesca; McNelis, Perin; Mount, Allegra. 2018. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Lycium berlandieri Dunal Plants Borderlands Restoration Patagonia, Arizona. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/07/02). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.
