Lycium ruthenicum Seeds | Black Goji
LATIN NAME: Lycium ruthenicum
COMMON NAME: Black Goji
Plant Profile
Known to gardeners as Black Goji, Lycium ruthenicum is a deciduous shrub in the nightshade family. Black goji is lesser-known cousin of red one, and small, purple-black berries are worth the finding. Berries have a long record in old practice of the East, and shrub is a fine, easy presence of warm border and fruit garden. It is a plant of open, sunny, well-drained ground. The flowers pull in pollinating insects, which quietly widens its usefulness in the garden. Gardeners value it precisely for this blend of qualities.
Science & Biotechnology
Research touching on Lycium ruthenicum ranges from the botany of the nightshade family to practical horticulture, including seed handling, propagation and the selection of superior forms. Breeders and collectors still work with it, so well-kept seed remains available.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Black Goji has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. Black goji is a fine, small berry of health food shelf and the garden. Small, round, glossy, purple-black berries come through late summer, carrying fine, sweet-sharp taste, and they have a long record in old practice of the East as a tea and a tonic. Once it has its roots down, it more or less looks after itself.
Black goji, Hei Gou Qi, is the anthocyanin superstar of the genus: its deep-purple berries are among the richest natural sources of these eye-and-vessel-friendly pigments, brewed as a fashionable blue-purple tea.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of Black Goji under ordinary good conditions. Surface-sow onto a light, well-drained compost, dust over a thin covering, and keep evenly moist and sunny until the seedlings show. Move strong seedlings into individual pots, keep them in good light, and set them out when the weather and their size agree.
Our Take
Black Goji has real presence in the garden without demanding much in return. Attention to moisture in the first weeks pays off; later, the plant is forgiving.
Related Reading
More species in the same orbit as Black Goji: