Physalis longifolia

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Physalis longifolia
Physalis subglabrata.jpg
var. subglabrata
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
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. longifolia
Binomial name
Physalis longifolia

Physalis longifolia, known by the common names common groundcherry, longleaf groundcherry, [1] and wild tomatillo, [2] 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, [1] and northern Mexico. It has also been noted as an introduced species in other regions, [3] including parts of the United States outside its native range. In some areas, such as California, it is an occasional noxious weed. [4] [5]

This species is a perennial herb growing 20–60 cm (7.9–23.6 in) tall with somewhat oval-shaped leaf blades 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) long borne on petioles. Flowers occur in the leaf axils. The bell-shaped corolla is up to 2 cm (0.79 in) wide and is yellow with purplish markings around the center. The husk covering the berry is up to 3.5 cm (1.4 in) long with ten veins. [4]

There are two varieties: [3] [6]

Uses

The yellow-green fruit is edible. The fresh fruit "tastes like an effervescent, under-ripened strawberry", and the dried berry "tastes like a cross between a raisin and dried cranberry." [2] Native American groups used it for food. The Puebloan peoples called the fruits charoka and shuma charoka and ate them fresh or cooked. [2]

The Zuni people referred to the plant and its relative Physalis hederifolia as Ke’tsitokia, and probably used them in similar ways. Women grew it in household gardens. The tomato-flavored berry was boiled and ground with onion, coriander, and chilis to make a dish considered to be a delicacy. The fruit was also dried and mixed into flour for bread. Today the Zuni use the closely related common tomatillo (P. philadelphica) in a sauce recipe derived from the traditional dishes that used wild species. [2]

The var. subglabrata has been listed in government compendia of Louisiana restricted taxa believed to be hallucinogenic, but this is likely inaccurate. [2]

P. longifolia is easy to grow in trials and produces a flavorful fruit. [2]

Related Research Articles

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

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<i>Ribes divaricatum</i> Species of currant

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

Physalis acutifolia is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common names sharpleaf groundcherry and Wright's ground-cherry. It is native to the southwestern United States from California to Texas, and northern Mexico, where it can be found in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. It is sometimes a weed when it springs up in agricultural fields, but it is generally not weedy in wild habitat. This is an annual herb producing a branching stem up to a meter tall. The lance-shaped to oval leaves are up to 12 cm long and have edges lined with shallow, smooth teeth. The herbage is coated thinly in hairs appressed flat against the surface. The flowers growing from the leaf axils are round and flat-faced and sometimes over 2 cm wide. They are white to pale yellow with wide, bright yellow centers. The five stamens are each tipped with an anther about 3 mm long. The star-shaped calyx of sepals at the base of the flower enlarges as the fruit develops, becoming an inflated, ribbed lantern-shaped structure about 2 cm long which contains the berry.

<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 hederifolia</i> Species of fruit and plant

Physalis hederifolia is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common name ivyleaf groundcherry. 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 rhizomatous perennial herb producing a hairy, branching stem 10 to 80 centimeters long. The gray-green oval leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters long and have smooth or bluntly toothed edges. The flowers growing from the leaf axils are bell-shaped and just over a centimeter long. They are yellow with five brown smudges in the throats. The five-lobed calyx of sepals at the base of the flower enlarges as the fruit develops, becoming an inflated, veined nearly spherical structure 2 or 3 centimeters long which contains the berry.

<i>Quincula</i> Genus of flowering plants

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.

<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 to the Americas, including the 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>Physalis viscosa</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

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

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.

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

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.

<i>Alkekengi</i> Species of edible flowering plant native to Eurasia

Alkekengi officinarum, the bladder cherry, Chinese lantern, Japanese-lantern, strawberry groundcherry, or winter 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.

References

  1. 1 2 USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Physalis longifolia". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kindscher, K.; Long, Q.; Corbett, S.; Bosnak, K.; Loring, H.; Cohen, M.; Timmermann, B. N. (2012). "The Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology of Wild Tomatillos, Physalis longifolia Nutt., and Related Physalis Species: A Review" (PDF). Economic Botany. 66 (3): 298–310. doi:10.1007/s12231-012-9210-7. S2CID   2794110.
  3. 1 2 "Physalis longifolia". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Physalis longifolia". The Jepson eFlora. Berkeley: Jepson Herbarium, University of California. 2013.
  5. "Physalis longifolia". Calflora. 2013.
  6. Physalis longifolia. ITIS.