yellow nightshade groundcherry
Physalis crassifolia Benth.
Physalis crassifolia, known as yellow nightshade groundcherry, is a flowering plant in the Solanaceae family. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in rocky, dry desert and mountain habitats. The plant is a perennial herb with ridged, angular, branching stems that can reach up to 80 cm in length. It has fleshy oval leaves and produces yellow, bell-shaped flowers. The calyx at the base of the flower expands into a lanternlike structure that encases the fruit.
Description
Physalis crassifolia is found in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and parts of Mexico. The plant's herbage is glandular and covered in short hairs. Its leaves are 1 to 3 cm long with smooth, wavy, or bluntly toothed edges. The yellow flowers, which grow from the leaf axils, are about 2 cm wide and vaguely five-lobed. As the fruit develops, the star-shaped calyx becomes an inflated, angled lanternlike structure approximately 2 cm long that contains the berry. The species was first described in 1844 by Benth.
Other common names
yellow nightshade groundcherry
Distribution
Global · Arizona · California · Mexico Northeast · Mexico Northwest · Mexico Southwest · Nevada · New Mexico · Utah
Synonyms
Physalis cardiophyllaPhysalis crassifoliaPhysalis muriculataPhysalis crassifolia subvar. crassifoliaPhysalis crassifolia var. cardiophyllaPhysalis crassifolia var. crassifoliaPhysalis crassifolia var. infundibularisPhysalis genucaulisPhysalis greeneiPhysalis muricataPhysalis muriculataPhysalis pedunculataPhysalis crassifolia f. muriculataPhysalis crassifolia f. crassifolia
