NIGHTSHADE FAMILY 



heavy, are sufficiently broad to support the flowers. The 

 shape of the inflated calyx explains the popular name, 

 Apple of Peru. 



SOLANACE^: NIGHTSHADE FAMILY 



Lycium halimifolium, Mill. 



Greenish-purple Matrimony Vine, 



and greenish-brown Box-thorn, 



Bastard Jassamine, 

 Slimmer Jassamine, 



Jackson-vine. 



Lycium: name from the country Lycia. 

 Halimifolium: Latin, having leaves like the Orach (Atriplex 

 halimus] of Europe. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil, frequently an 

 escape. 



THE SHRUB : vine-like, six feet high and often much higher, 

 branched; the branches somewhat angled; the stems with 

 few or no spines, slender and drooping; if the spines are 

 present, they are slender, about one half an inch long. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; lanceolate, tending to spatulate; 

 acute or obtuse at the apex; narrowed into short stems; 

 firm. 



THE FLOWERS : two to five together in the axils of the 

 leaves, or solitary. The corolla somewhat funnel-formed. 



THE FRUIT: orange red oval berry. 



A decorative vine with lance-shaped leaves, that is fre- 

 quently trained around doorways and even, when neg- 

 lected, continues to flourish. Often it spreads to nearby 

 fences. Occasionally it is found in a tangled, bushy mass. 

 The flowers are small and funnel-shaped, with five petals. 

 At first purplish, they later turn to a green-brown an 

 interesting example of change due to oxidation. 



343 



