FNA: Physalis pubescens

	Physalis pubescens
	hairy ground-cherry, husk tomato
Habit	Herbs annual, taprooted, ± glabrous to villous, hairs simple, jointed, glandular and eglandular, of varying lengths, all shorter than 0.5 mm, plants from southwestern United States all glandular, green in appearance when dry.
Stems	erect, branching at most nodes, branches spreading, 0.5–8 dm.
Leaves	petiolate; petiole 1/5 to as long as blade; blade broadly ovate to orbiculate, (1.6–)2.5–8(–9.5) × (1–)2–7 cm, base rounded to slightly cordate, margins entire or coarsely dentate, teeth fewer than 8 per side.
Pedicels	slender, 3.5–9 mm, 5–15 mm in fruit.
Flowers	calyx 3–6(–7) mm, lobes 1–3.5 mm; corolla yellow with 5 large, dark purple-brown-black spots, campanulate-rotate, 6–11 mm; anthers blue, rarely yellow or blue-tinged, not twisted after dehiscence, 1–2 mm.
Fruiting calyces	loosely enclosing berry, sharply 5-angled, 20–35 × 15–25(–30) mm, always noticeably longer than wide.
2n	= 24.

	Physalis pubescens
Phenology	Flowering year-round in areas without frost, mostly May–Oct.
Habitat	Low woods, edges of swamps, stream banks, floodplains, hammocks, disturbed habitats.
Elevation	0–900 m. (0–3000 ft.)
Distribution	AL; AR; AZ; CA; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NM; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; WI; WV; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Australia] [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Fresh plants of Physalis pubescens reportedly have a strong fetid odor (M. Martínez 1998). This widespread species exhibits considerable variability in the character of the leaf margins and degree of indument. The fruits of P. pubescens are reportedly gathered for food. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source	FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa	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. longifolia, P. missouriensis, P. mollis, P. neomexicana, P. philadelphica, P. pumila, P. solanacea, P. virginiana, P. walteri, P. ×elliottii
Synonyms	P. barbadensis, P. barbadensis var. glabra, P. floridana, P. latiphysa, P. pubescens var. glabra, P. pubescens var. integrifolia, P. turbinata
Name authority	Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 183. (1753)
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Physalis pubescens

hairy ground-cherry, husk tomato

Habit

Herbs annual, taprooted, ± glabrous to villous, hairs simple, jointed, glandular and eglandular, of varying lengths, all shorter than 0.5 mm, plants from southwestern United States all glandular, green in appearance when dry.

Stems

erect, branching at most nodes, branches spreading, 0.5–8 dm.

Leaves

petiolate;

petiole 1/5 to as long as blade;

blade broadly ovate to orbiculate, (1.6–)2.5–8(–9.5) × (1–)2–7 cm, base rounded to slightly cordate, margins entire or coarsely dentate, teeth fewer than 8 per side.

Pedicels

slender, 3.5–9 mm, 5–15 mm in fruit.

Flowers

calyx 3–6(–7) mm, lobes 1–3.5 mm;

corolla yellow with 5 large, dark purple-brown-black spots, campanulate-rotate, 6–11 mm;

anthers blue, rarely yellow or blue-tinged, not twisted after dehiscence, 1–2 mm.

Fruiting calyces

loosely enclosing berry, sharply 5-angled, 20–35 × 15–25(–30) mm, always noticeably longer than wide.

= 24.

Physalis pubescens

Phenology

Flowering year-round in areas without frost, mostly May–Oct.

Habitat

Low woods, edges of swamps, stream banks, floodplains, hammocks, disturbed habitats.

Elevation

0–900 m. (0–3000 ft.)

Distribution

AL; AR; AZ; CA; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NM; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; WI; WV; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Australia]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Fresh plants of Physalis pubescens reportedly have a strong fetid odor (M. Martínez 1998). This widespread species exhibits considerable variability in the character of the leaf margins and degree of indument. The fruits of P. pubescens are reportedly gathered for food.

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

Source

FNA vol. 14.

Parent taxa

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. longifolia, P. missouriensis, P. mollis, P. neomexicana, P. philadelphica, P. pumila, P. solanacea, P. virginiana, P. walteri, P. ×elliottii

Synonyms

P. barbadensis, P. barbadensis var. glabra, P. floridana, P. latiphysa, P. pubescens var. glabra, P. pubescens var. integrifolia, P. turbinata

Name authority

Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 183. (1753)

Web links

Local floras: BC, CA, OR
Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database
LBJ Wildflower Center
SEINet
Plants of the World Online
Encyclopedia of Life
Wikipedia
Google Image Search

Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora

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Physalis pubescens

Physalis pubescens