Lycium schweinfurthii (Boxthorn)

Lycium schweinfurthii, Boxthorn,
Hebrew: אטד החוף, Arabic: عوسج


Scientific name:		Lycium schweinfurthii Dammer
Common name:		Boxthorn, Lycium schweinfurthii
Hebrew name:		אטד החוף
Arabic name:		عوسج
Family:		Solanaceae, סולניים


Life form:		Phanerophyte, shrub
Spinescence:		Stems
Stems:		Up to 200 cm; thorny branches
Leaves:		Alternate, entire
Flowers:		Violet, white
Fruits / pods:		Berry, black and red-orange
Flowering Period:		Almost the whole year
Habitat:		Light soils
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Perennating

_{Location: The Sharon Plain}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Lycium, from Lycia, an ancient country in Asia Minor, and / or from the Greek name Lykion used by Dioscorides and Pliny for some thorny tree or shrub.

schweinfurthii, for Charles Schweinfurth (1890-1970), an American botanist.
The Hebrew name: אטד, atad, related to Aramaic-Syrian: אטדא, atda, Arabic: ‘atad, Akkadian: etidu and ittitti.

The standard author abbreviation Dammer is used to indicate Carl Lebrecht Udo Dammer (1860 – 1920), a German botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

Pliny the Elder(23–79), describes boxthorn as a medicinal plant recommended as a treatment for sore eyes and inflammation.
Pedanius Dioscorides (ca.40-ca. 90) notes medicinal uses of Lycium, stating that preparations of various plant parts relieved inflammation and relaited ailments