The tomatillo, also known as the Mexican husk tomato, is a plant of the nightshade family bearing small, spherical, and green or green-purple fruit of the same name. Tomatillos originated in Mexico and were cultivated in the pre-Columbian era. A staple of Mexican cuisine, they are eaten raw and cooked in a variety of dishes, particularly salsa verde. The tomatillo is a perennial plant, but is generally grown for agriculture each year as if it were an annual.
Physalis is a genus of approximately 75 to 90 flowering plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which are native to the Americas and Australasia. At least 46 species are endemic to Mexico. Cultivated and weedy species have been introduced worldwide. A defining feature of Physalis is a large, papery husk derived from the calyx, which partly or fully encloses the fruit. Many species bear edible fruit, and some species are cultivated.
Physalis peruviana is a species of plant in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) native to Chile and Peru. Within that region, it is called aguaymanto, uvilla or uchuva, in addition to numerous indigenous and regional names. In English, its common names include Cape gooseberry, goldenberry and Peruvian groundcherry.
Nicandra physalodes is a species of flowering plant in subfamily Solanoideae of the nightshade family. It is known by the common names apple-of-Peru and shoo-fly plant. It is thought originally to have been native to western South America, including Peru, and is known elsewhere as an introduced and ruderal species – sometimes as a weed – in tropical, subtropical and, to a lesser extent, temperate areas all over the world. It has also long been cultivated as an ornamental plant for its attractive flowers and curious fruits and has been adopted into the traditional medicine of countries far-removed from its original home.
Lycopersicon was a genus in the flowering plant family Solanaceae. It contained about 13 species in the tomato group of nightshades. First removed from the genus Solanum by Philip Miller in 1754, its removal leaves the latter genus paraphyletic, so modern botanists generally accept the names in Solanum. The name Lycopersicon is still used by gardeners, farmers, and seed companies. Collectively, the species in this group apart from the common cultivated plant are called wild tomatoes.
Withania is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae, with 19 to 23 species that are native to parts of North Africa, western Asia, south Asia, southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Canary Islands. Withania was initially included within Physalis by Linnaeus in 1753 but has since become its own genus. This grouping was due to the shared feature of an inflated Calyx that surrounds and protects the fruit.
Physalis heterophylla, colloquial name clammy groundcherry, is species of herbaceous plant in the family Solanaceae. It is native to North America, occurring primarily in the eastern United States and Canada. It is known to occur in all contiguous states except for Nevada and California. It is found mainly in habitats such as dry or mesic prairies, gravel hills and rises, sandy or rocky soils, and waste places such as roadsides.
Physalis longifolia, known by the common names common groundcherry, longleaf groundcherry, and wild tomatillo, is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. It is native to North America, where it is native to eastern Canada, much of the continental United States, and northern Mexico. It has also been noted as an introduced species in other regions, including parts of the United States outside its native range. In some areas, such as California, it is an occasional noxious weed.
Quincula is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The sole species it contains, Quincula lobata, is commonly known as Chinese lantern, lobed groundcherry, or purple groundcherry.
Physalis pubescens is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by many common names, including husk tomato, low ground-cherry and hairy groundcherry in English, and muyaca and capulí in Spanish. It is native from Brazil, but also found in southern half of the United States, Mexico, Central and much of South America. It can be found elsewhere as an introduced species and sometimes a weed. It can grow in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. This is an annual herb producing a glandular, densely hairy stem up to about 60 cm (24 in) in maximum height from a taproot. The oval or heart-shaped leaves are 3–9 cm (1.2–3.5 in) long and have smooth or toothed edges. The flowers blooming from the leaf axils are bell-shaped and about a centimeter long. They are yellow with five dark spots in the throats, and have five stamens tipped with blue anthers. The five-lobed calyx of sepals at the base of the flower enlarges as the fruit develops, becoming an inflated, ribbed, lanternlike structure 2–4 cm (0.79–1.57 in) long which contains the berry.
Physalis viscosa is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by many common names, including starhair groundcherry, stellate ground-cherry and grape groundcherry in English, and arrebenta-cavalo, balãozinho, and camambú in Portuguese and Spanish. It is native to South America, and it is known on other continents as an introduced species and sometimes a weed. It can grow in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas.
Solanum diphyllum, commonly known as the twoleaf nightshade, is a species of nightshade native to the Americas. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant for its clusters of dark green round fruits that turn a bright yellow when ripe.
Physalis virginiana, the Virginia groundcherry, is a rhizomatous perennial with a deeply buried stem base. It is found mostly in eastern North America as far west as Wyoming.
The Solanaceae, or the nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and ornamentals. Many members of the family contain potent alkaloids, and some are highly toxic, but many—including tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, bell, and chili peppers—are used as food. The family belongs to the order Solanales, in the asterid group and class Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons). The Solanaceae consists of about 98 genera and some 2,700 species, with a great diversity of habitats, morphology and ecology.
Physalis pruinosa is a plant in the genus Physalis in the nightshade family Solanaceae, often referred to as ground cherry or husk tomato. It is a native species in a range extending from northern Mexico through Central America. The plant has a low, spreading habit, and fruits develop in a papery husk, as is characteristic of the genus. While most parts of the plant are toxic to humans due to the presence of solanine and solanidine, the fruit becomes edible once it has ripened to yellow. The fruit's flavor is similar in some respects to that of a ripe tomatillo, but notably has a strong flavor of pineapple as well, a fact reflected in the name of a common commercial variety, "Cossack Pineapple". The ripe fruit of Physalis pruinosa var. argentinaJ. M. Toledo & Barboza is a food source for the Pilagá ethnic group.
Petunioideae is a subfamily within the family Solanaceae.
Calliphysalis is a genus of perennial plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species Calliphysalis carpenteri, commonly known as Carpenter's groundcherry.Calliphysalis carpenteri is native to sandy soils on the coastal plain regions of south-eastern North America from northern Florida to Louisiana and Arkansas, it was first described from specimens collected in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Its species name honors the botanical contributions of early Louisiana naturalist William Marbury Carpenter (1811-1848).
Physalis walteri, commonly known as Walter's groundcherry or dune groundcherry, is a species of flowering plant. Its native distribution is Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Virginia in the United States as well as Northeast Mexico. Its habitat is pinelands and open coastal areas.
Alkekengi officinarum, the bladder cherry, Chinese lantern, Japanese-lantern, strawberry groundcherry, winter cherry, alchechengi berry, or Klabuster cherry is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is a close relative of the new world Calliphysalis carpenteri and a somewhat more distant relative to the members of the Physalis genus. This species is native to the regions covering Southern Europe to South Asia and Northeast Asia.
