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thick leaf ground cherry, yellow nightshade groundcherry

Walter's groundcherry

Habit Herbs perennial, becoming suffrutescent, rhizomatous, rhizomes often just below soil surface, vertical, stout, puberulent, hairs divergent, to 0.5 mm, some glandular, appearing ± glabrous without magnification. Herbs perennial, rhizomatous, rhizomes deeply buried, stout, pubescent, hairs dendroid-stelliform, to 1 mm.
Stems

erect, branching from near base and at most nodes, branches widely spreading, distinctly zigzag, slender, 1–4(–10) dm.

erect to decumbent, branching at most nodes, proximal branches spreading and decumbent, (0.5–)1.5–3(–4) dm.

Leaves

petiolate;

petiole mostly as long as blade;

blade broadly ovate to deltate, 0.8–3.3(–4.5) × 0.8–3.3(–4.5) cm, base cordate, sometimes slightly unequal, margins entire to unevenly coarsely dentate, sometimes thick and slightly succulent.

petiolate;

petiole 1/5–1/3 blade;

blade broadly elliptic to ovate (2–)3–7(–11) × 1.5–4(–7.5) cm, base rounded, margins entire, rarely irregularly shallowly sinuate.

Pedicels

8–24(–33) mm, (11–)14–30(–35) mm in fruit.

10–25(–30) mm, 15–35(–45) mm in fruit.

Flowers

calyx (3–)4–7(–8) mm, lobes 1–3 mm;

corolla pale yellow with yellow or greenish-brown smudges or tinge, campanulate-rotate, 8–14 mm;

anthers yellow, not twisted after dehiscence, 1.5–3 mm.

calyx 5–9 mm, lobes 2–4 mm;

corolla yellow with 5 dark purple-brown spots, campanulate-rotate, 10–16 mm;

anthers yellow, rarely purple-tinged, not twisted after dehiscence, 2.5–3.5 mm.

Fruiting calyces

loosely enclosing berry, 10-ribbed, 14–30(–40) × (10–)15–20(–25) mm.

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

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Physalis crassifolia

Physalis walteri

Phenology Flowering year-round in areas without frost, mostly Mar–Apr. Flowering year-round in areas without frost.
Habitat Gravelly or sandy slopes, washes, roadsides, mesas, canyons. Beach dunes, maritime woodlands, inland sandhills, disturbed areas in sand.
Elevation 100–1700 m. (300–5600 ft.) 0–60 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Sonora) [Introduced in Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; MS; NC; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In Physalis crassifolia, the corolla limb is widely flaring and reflexed when the flower is fully open, and the flowers are more nodding than fully pendent. Some herbarium specimen labels indicate that plants flower the first year. Physalis greenei Vasey & Rose, not validly published, has been misapplied to some representatives of P. crassifolia. Physalis crassifolia is widespread in Arizona, but it is restricted in California to south-southeastern counties as far north as Inyo, in Nevada to Clark and Lincoln counties, and in Utah to Washington County.

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

Physalis walteri occurs in inland, sandy areas in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi and on beach dunes from Florida north along the Atlantic Coast to southern Virginia.

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

Source FNA vol. 14. FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Solanaceae > Physalis Solanaceae > Physalis
Sibling taxa
P. acutifolia, P. angulata, P. angustifolia, P. arenicola, P. caudella, P. cinerascens, P. cordata, 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. longifolia, P. missouriensis, P. mollis, P. neomexicana, P. philadelphica, P. pubescens, P. pumila, P. solanacea, P. virginiana, P. ×elliottii
Synonyms P. crassifolia var. cardiophylla, P. crassifolia var. versicolor, P. versicolor P. maritima, P. viscosa subsp. maritima, P. viscosa var. maritima
Name authority Bentham: Bot. Voy. Sulphur, 40. (1844) Nuttall: J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 7: 112. (1834)
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