Lycium californicum is a spreading shrub in the nightshade family known by the common names California boxthorn and California desert-thorn. This plant, as Lycium californicum var. californicum, is native to the Coastal sage scrub and coastal bluffs along the coast of Southern California to northern Baja California and the northern and southern Channel Islands. As Lycium californicum var. arizonicum it is found in the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Lycium californicum has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens14
Marker genes5
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections12
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK★rbcL2★rbcLa★ITS8★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB · TreeOfSex
The complete instruction manualLycium californicum carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Chromosomes2n = 48 n = 24
Ploidypolyploid inferred
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy84% within 1 km
≤100 m 604≤1 km 70≤10 km 15>10 km 113
802 georeferenced · 260 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor1 062
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy74% within 1 km
≤100 m 104≤1 km 97≤10 km 66>10 km 3
270 georeferenced · 200 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence470
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions32 of 44 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
San Diego, US
178
Santa Barbara, US
65
Claremont, US
56
Saint Louis, US
13
Irvine, US
13
ASUlocation not on record
13
The University of Arizonalocation not on record
11
Los Angeles, US
9
Ensenada, MX
8
Phoenix, US
7
Austin, US
7
South Kensington, GB
5
Arma dei Carabinierilocation not on record
5
Long Beach, US
5
Kew, GB
5
CASlocation not on record
5
La Paz, MX
4
Mexico City, MX
4
Catalina Island Conservancylocation not on record
4
San Luis Obispo, US
4
Calabar, NG
3
Riverside, US
3
US
3
Bronx, US
2
Flagstaff, US
2
Arizona State University Biocollectionslocation not on record
2
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
2
Chapingo, MX
2
Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record
2
Lubbock, US
2
San Diego Natural History Museum, Herbariumlocation not on record
1
San Diego Natural History Museumlocation not on record
1
Chapel Hill, US
1
Pullman, US
1
Frankfurt am Main
1
Logan, US
1
Northridge, US
1
San Francisco, US
1
San Juan College School of Science Math & Engineeringlocation not on record
1
Hermosillo, MX
1
New Mexico State Universitylocation not on record
1
EL PASO, US
1
Juriquilla, MX
1
Davis, US
1
44 institutions · 458 of 470 vouchered records shown · 12 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA12 detections
Where the DNA of Lycium californicum was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found12
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 12 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
Coastal Sage Scrub with Artemisia californic…
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median15.0 °C 15.0–15.0
Seasonal swing summer↔winter10.9 °C
Max temp (day)20.2 °C
Min temp (night)10.5 °C
Precipitation19.9 mm/mo
Air humidity60.9 %
Moisture balance-100 mm/mo
Vapour deficit667 Pa
Wind speed2.30 m/s
Cloud cover31.7 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 1 detection point · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation3 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 532 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI12 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics14 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗