Boxthorn

Box-thorn, a name applied to the various species of the genus Lycium, belonging to the order Solanaceae. They are shrubs, natives of the Mediterranean region and of tropical America, with funnel-shaped corolla, stamens opening lengthwise and a two-chambered nuculane with a persistent calyx. L. barbarum, with small lilac flowers, is known as the Duke of Argyll's tea-tree, its leaves having been recommended as a substitute for tea. It is often seen as an escape in hedge-rows.