African boxthorn

Lycium ferocissimum, the African boxthorn, is a dense, rigid, much-branched evergreen or semi-deciduous shrub of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), growing 2 to 5 m tall. It is heavily armed: the stout grey-green branches taper into sharp, woody, often branched spines up to several centimetres long. The small, fleshy, bright-green leaves are oval to spoon-shaped and clustered along the stems. Solitary, white to pale lilac, funnel-shaped flowers with five lobes arise in the leaf axils. The fruit is a small, smooth, glossy red to orange-red berry containing numerous seeds. Native to southern Africa (chiefly South Africa), it has been spread widely as a hedge plant and is now a serious, declared invasive weed in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, forming impenetrable thorny thickets in pastures, coastal areas and disturbed land.