The plant pictured below comes up in my yard in Central Indiana every summer, but until this summer, I had been cutting it down before it bloomed, assuming it was some kind of undesirable weed. This summer, however, I let it grow to see what it actually was. The longest stems are now approximately 3 feet high and covered with rows of light purple, star-shaped flowers that measure about half an inch in diameter. Even though they have little in the way of smell, the flowers seem particularly attractive to various species of bees and Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies. Any help in identifying this plant would be greatly appreciated!
This plant looks like Lycium barbarum (matrimony vine, Duke of Argyll's tea or wolfberry). Here is an illustration from Kurt Stueber's on-line library, and a webpage from a Swedish website.
