Physalis pubescens
hairy groundcherry | |
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Physalis hederifolia var. comata [1] | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Asterids |
Order: | Solanales |
Family: | Solanaceae |
Genus: | Physalis |
Species: | P. pubescens |
Binomial name | |
Physalis pubescens L. | |
![](../I/m/Physalis_pubescens_MHNT.BOT.2008.1.51.jpg)
Physalis pubescens is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by many common names, including husk tomato 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 centimeters in maximum height from a taproot. The oval or heart-shaped leaves are 3 to 9 centimeters 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 to 4 centimeters long which contains the berry.
See also
References
- ↑ from Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 3: 161. Courtesy of Kentucky Native Plant Society. Scanned by Omnitek Inc.