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

Southwestern groundcherry

Habit Herbs perennial, rhizomatous, rhizomes deeply buried, stout, glabrous or sparsely strigose, hairs simple, antrorse, to 0.5 mm. Herbs perennial, rhizomatous, rhizomes deeply buried and seldom collected, sparsely pubescent to densely villous, hairs simple, jointed, 1–3 mm.
Stems

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

erect, branching infrequently, branches ascending to spreading, 1–3(–4) dm.

Leaves

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.

petiolate;

petiole to 1/3 blade at proximal nodes, appearing ± sessile at distal nodes;

blade lanceolate or lanceolate-ovate, (2.5–)4.5–7.5(–9.5) × 1.2–2.5(–4) cm, base rounded and tapering to petiole, margins entire, saliently few-toothed, or repand.

Pedicels

5–18 mm, 12–35 mm in fruit.

8–13(–15) mm, 10–20(–25) mm in fruit.

Flowers

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.

calyx 6–10 mm, lobes 2–5(–7) mm;

corolla yellow with dark purple-black spots, campanulate-rotate, 14–16 mm;

anthers dark purple to blue, rarely yellow, not twisted after dehiscence, (2–)3–3.5 mm.

Fruiting calyces

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

loosely enclosing berry, 10-ribbed, (20–)30–50 × 20–30(–35) mm, lobes attenuate.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Physalis longifolia

Physalis caudella

Phenology Flowering (sporadically Jun–)Aug.
Habitat Loose, gravelly soil near streams, slopes, rocky ridges, pinyon-oak-juniper woodlands.
Elevation 1200–2800 m. (3900–9200 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
North America; n Mexico [Introduced in Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

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

Only a few herbarium specimens of Physalis caudella have been seen from the flora area (Apache, Cochise, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties in Arizona, and Catron County in New Mexico).

(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. 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
P. acutifolia, P. angulata, P. angustifolia, P. arenicola, 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
Subordinate taxa
P. longifolia var. longifolia, P. longifolia var. subglabrata, P. longifolia var. texana
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 5: 193. (1836) Standley: Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 17: 273. (1937)
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