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Chinese Boxthorn

Lycium chinense

Found in old home sites, roadsides, disturbed thickets. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 41%

Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Moist to wet

At a glance

Fruiting season
August to December

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

Bloom: recorded only in the FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) phone app (app page).

Height, spread, life cycle and leaves: no source found yet.

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 7 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Forest edges and thickets

Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields
Named place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Lycium

  • Manduca quinquemaculatusFive-Spotted Hawkmoth, Tomato Hornworm
  • Manduca sextaCarolina Sphinx, Tomatoe Sphinx, Tobacco Hornworm
  • Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lycium

  • Zenaida asiaticaWhite-winged Dove
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Solanaceae
Fruit begins
August
Fruit ends
December

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
  • Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Fruit ends · “December” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as

Chinese Matrimony Vine

Conservation status

Virginia rankSNA
Global rankGNR
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources