Physalis heterophylla

Last updated

Clammy groundcherry
Cerises de terre.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Physalis
Species:
P. heterophylla
Binomial name
Physalis heterophylla
Nees

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. [1] [2] 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.

Contents

Identification

Physalis heterophylla is a perennial, and is one of the taller-growing North American members of the genus, reaching a height up to 50 cm. The leaves are alternate, with petioles up to 1.5 cm, ovate in shape, usually cordate at the base (this is especially true of mature leaves), 6–11 cm long at maturity. Each member of the genus Physalis has at least one characteristic that makes it easy to differentiate in the field. For P. heterophylla, the stems and leaves are glandularly pubescent, giving it the "clammy" feel from which its name is derived. The plant also has distinctive thick rhizomes that run horizontal to the stem. Some sources recognize four distinct subspecies based primarily on leaf variation:

The flowers are on simple inflorescences that emerge from leaf apexes. The petals are yellow on the exterior, and yellow on the interior with purple highlights emanating up each petal from the base. They are funnelform in shape, with five fused petals. There are five reticulated sepals, which enlarge after flowering to eventually protect the maturing fruit. Stamens five, with yellow anthers and purple filaments. The flowers face downwards when open, and are about 2.5 cm in diameter. The fruits are typical for the family (appearing like a tomatillo), and have a slightly bitter taste, though they are perfectly edible when ripe. [3]

Toxicity

Outside of the mature fruit, which is edible, all parts of P. heterophylla contain toxic amounts of solanine, which is poisonous to humans and animals. Symptoms of solanine poisoning include headache, stomach pain, lowered temperature, dilated pupils, vomiting, diarrhea, circulatory and respiratory depression, and loss of sensation. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Prunus virginiana</i> Species of plant

Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry, is a species of bird cherry native to North America.

<i>Aralia spinosa</i> Species of tree

Aralia spinosa, commonly known as devil's walking stick, is a woody species of plant in the genus Aralia of the family Araliaceae. It is native to eastern North America. The various names refer to the viciously sharp, spiny stems, petioles and even leaf midribs. It has also been known as Angelica-tree.

<i>Althaea officinalis</i> Species of plant

Althaea officinalis, the marsh mallow or marshmallow, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, which is used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant. A confection made from the root since ancient Egyptian times evolved into today's marshmallow treat, but most modern marshmallow treats no longer contain any marsh-mallow root.

<i>Physalis angulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Physalis angulata is an erect herbaceous annual plant belonging to the nightshade family Solanaceae. Its leaves are dark green and roughly oval, often with tooth shapes around the edge. The flowers are five-sided and pale yellow; the yellow-orange fruits are borne inside a balloon-like calyx. The exact native range is uncertain. The species may be naturally endemic to Australia or the Americas or the native range may encompass both the Americas and Australia. It is now widely distributed and naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.

<i>Vaccinium myrtillus</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium myrtillus or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortleberry to distinguish it from other Vaccinium relatives.

<i>Acanthophoenix</i> Genus of palms

Acanthophoenix is a genus of flowering plants in the palm family from the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean, where they are commonly called palmiste rouge. A genus long in flux, three species are currently recognized, though unsustainable levels of harvesting for their edible palm hearts have brought them all to near extinction in habitat. They are closely related to the Tectiphiala and Deckenia genera, differing in the shape of the staminate flower. The name combines the Greek words for "thorn" and "date palm".

<i>Viburnum trilobum</i> Species of fruit and plant

Viburnum trilobum is a species of Viburnum native to northern North America, from Newfoundland west to British Columbia, south to Washington state and east to northern Virginia. It is very closely related to the European and Asian Viburnum opulus, and is often treated as a variety of it, as Viburnum opulus L. var. americanum Ait., or as a subspecies, Viburnum opulus subsp. trilobum (Marshall) Clausen.

<i>Codiaeum variegatum</i> Species of plant

Codiaeum variegatum is a species of Codiaeum, a genus of flowering plants, in the Euphorbiaceae. Initially described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, it is native to Australasia and Oceania, from Malaysia and Indonesia in the north through northeastern Australia, as well as many Southeast Asian and South Pacific islands, growing in open forests and scrub.

<i>Viola purpurea</i> Species of flowering plant

Viola purpurea is a species of violet with yellow flowers and the common name goosefoot violet.

<i>Harfordia macroptera</i> Genus of flowering plants

Harfordia macroptera is a woody perennial in the family Polygonaceae commonly known as rabbit's purse. It is the sole species in the genus Harfordia, which is endemic to the Baja California Peninsula. This plant is characterized by a unique, conspicuous bladder embellished with red to purple veins that surround the fruit. The sac-like structure is actually a dramatically modified bract, and assists in dispersal of the seeds through the wind.

<i>Eupatorium japonicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Eupatorium japonicum, known as fragrant eupatorium in English and 白头婆 bai tou po, in Chinese, is a herbaceous plant species in the family Asteraceae. It is native to China, Japan and Korea.

<i>Physalis longifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Paeonia delavayi</i> Shrub in the family Paeoniaceae from southwest China

Paeonia delavayi is a low woody shrub belonging to the peony family, and is endemic to China. The vernacular name in China is 滇牡丹. In English it is called Delavay's tree peony, Delavay peony, Dian peony, and dian mu dan. It mostly has reddish-brown to yellow, nodding flowers from mid May to mid June. The light green, delicate looking deciduous leaves consist of many segments, and are alternately arranged on new growth.

<i>Physalis crassifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Physalis crassifolia is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common names yellow nightshade groundcherry and thick-leaf ground-cherry. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it can be found in rocky, dry desert and mountain habitat. This is a perennial herb producing a ridged, angular, branching stem approaching 80 cm long, taking a clumped, matted, or erect form. The fleshy oval leaves are 1 to 3 cm long and have smooth, wavy, or bluntly toothed edges. The herbage is glandular and coated in short hairs. The yellow flowers growing from the leaf axils are widely bell-shaped, vaguely five-lobed, and around 2 cm wide. The star-shaped calyx of sepals at the base of the flower enlarges as the fruit develops, becoming an inflated, angled lanternlike structure about 2 cm long, which contains the berry.

<i>Physalis pubescens</i> Species of fruit and plant

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.

<i>Angelica acutiloba</i> Species of flowering plant

Angelica acutiloba is a perennial herb from the family Apiaceae or Umbelliferous. It is predominately in Japan and perhaps endemic (unique). It is now distributed widely and cultivated in Jilin, China, Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia.

<i>Prunus sibirica</i> Species of plant

Prunus sibirica, commonly known as Siberian apricot, is a species of shrub or small tree native to northern China, Korea, Mongolia, and eastern Siberia. It is classified in the rose family, Rosaceae, and is one of several species whose fruit are called apricot, although this species is rarely cultivated for its fruit. The species was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

<i>Quintinia verdonii</i> Species of tree

Quintinia verdonii, commonly known as the grey possumwood, is a tree of eastern Australia. It is mostly found in rainforests at high altitude. The range of natural distribution is between the Barrington Tops region of New South Wales and the Blackall Range in the state of Queensland.

Zanthoxylum dissitum is a woody plant native to China. It grows in upland thickets and open forests, forests, at 300-2600 m altitude.

<i>Dianthus caespitosus</i> Species of flowering plant

Dianthus caespitosus, called the Karoo pink or koperangelier, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.

References

  1. 1 2 https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/physalis-heterophylla/
  2. https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=PHHE5
  3. Niering, William A.; Olmstead, Nancy C. (1985) [1979]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region. Knopf. p. 803. ISBN   0-394-50432-1.