Gou Ju Ye

Gou Ju Ye is the leaf of the goji or wolfberry plant, Lycium chinense Mill. and the closely related Lycium barbarum L. (Solanaceae), deciduous shrubs 1-3 m tall native to China and adjacent parts of East Asia. Stems are slender, arching to scandent, pale grey-brown, often armed with short axillary spines. Leaves are alternate or fascicled on short shoots, simple, narrowly lanceolate to elliptic-ovate, 2-6 cm long and 0.5-2.5 cm wide, with entire margins, an acute apex, a wedge-shaped base, and a soft fleshy-herbaceous texture, bright green and glabrous on both surfaces. Small, pale lilac to purple, 5-lobed funnel-shaped flowers are borne singly or in small clusters in the leaf axils, followed by the familiar ellipsoid, bright orange-red berries. Tender young leaves and shoots are harvested fresh in spring and summer.