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cypresshead groundcherry

common groundcherry, ground-cherry, long leafed tomatillo, long-leaf ground-cherry, wild tomatillo

Habit Herbs perennial, rhizomatous, rhizomes deeply buried, slender, typically also with shallowly buried, slender rhizomes, glabrous to villous, hairs simple, antrorse, to 1 mm, sometimes also with simple, jointed, divergent hairs, 1–2 mm, sometimes glandular. Herbs perennial, rhizomatous, rhizomes deeply buried, stout, glabrous or sparsely strigose, hairs simple, antrorse, to 0.5 mm.
Stems

erect, few-branched, 0.5–3 dm.

erect or erect to decumbent, branching frequently at distal nodes or several-branched from base, branches spreading or ascending, 1–6 dm.

Leaves

petiolate;

petiole 1/4–2/3 blade;

blade ovate to suborbiculate, 1.5–6(–6.5) × 1–5 cm, base truncate to cordate, margins entire or coarsely, irregularly dentate with few teeth.

petiolate;

petiole 1/5–2/5 blade;

blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, 2.5–10(–13) × 0.5–6(–7) cm, base truncate to rounded, margins entire to coarsely dentate or irregularly crenate-dentate with only a few teeth.

Pedicels

(8–)11–17(–25) mm, 15–30(–35) mm in fruit.

5–18 mm, 12–35 mm in fruit.

Flowers

calyx 6–12 mm, villous, lobes 2–5 mm;

corolla yellow with 5 pale reddish-brown smudges or not, campanulate-rotate, 10–17 mm;

anthers yellow, not twisted after dehiscence, 2.5–4 mm.

calyx (5–)7–12 mm, sparsely strigose with short, antrorse hairs, lobes 3–6 mm;

corolla yellow with 5 purple-brown smudges, campanulate-rotate, 10–20 mm;

anthers yellow or blue-tinged, not twisted after dehiscence, 2–4 mm.

Fruiting calyces

loosely enclosing berry, 10-ribbed, 20–35 × 15–25 mm.

loosely enclosing berry, 10-ribbed, 20–40 × 15–30 mm.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Physalis arenicola

Physalis longifolia

Phenology Flowering year-round in areas without frost.
Habitat Sandy soil, pine-oak woods, hammocks, fields, pastures, road­sides.
Elevation 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; MS
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
North America; n Mexico [Introduced in Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Physalis arenicola is found throughout Florida; only a few records exist from the other states in its range.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Stems erect to decumbent, branching at base; leaf blades glabrous.
var. texana
1. Stems erect, branching at distal nodes; leaf blades glabrous or sparsely strigose.
→ 2
2. Leaf blades narrowly ovate-lanceolate to lan­ceolate; anthers yellow.
var. longifolia
2. Leaf blades ovate to ovate-lanceolate or broadly lanceolate; anthers blue-tinged.
var. subglabrata
Source FNA vol. 14. FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Solanaceae > Physalis Solanaceae > Physalis
Sibling taxa
P. acutifolia, P. angulata, P. angustifolia, P. caudella, P. cinerascens, P. cordata, P. crassifolia, P. fendleri, P. grisea, P. hederifolia, P. heterophylla, P. lanceolata, P. longifolia, P. missouriensis, P. mollis, P. neomexicana, P. philadelphica, P. pubescens, P. pumila, P. solanacea, P. virginiana, P. walteri, P. ×elliottii
P. acutifolia, P. angulata, P. angustifolia, P. arenicola, P. caudella, P. cinerascens, P. cordata, P. crassifolia, P. fendleri, P. grisea, P. hederifolia, P. heterophylla, P. lanceolata, P. missouriensis, P. mollis, P. neomexicana, P. philadelphica, P. pubescens, P. pumila, P. solanacea, P. virginiana, P. walteri, P. ×elliottii
Subordinate taxa
P. longifolia var. longifolia, P. longifolia var. subglabrata, P. longifolia var. texana
Synonyms P. arenicola var. ciliosa, P. ciliosa
Name authority Kearney: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 21: 485. (1894) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 5: 193. (1836)
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