“What is this?”
That’s what I said to myself when I saw this plant at Moraine State Park in early August. The leaves resemble tomato or green pepper leaves but the lantern seed pods were new to me.
It looks festive, doesn’t it?
It reminds me of Chinese lanterns.
Newcomb’s Wildlfower Guide keys this out to Ground Cherry (Physalis) with a choice of three species. The leaf shape is wrong for clammy ground cherry and the stems and leaves aren’t downy so it must be smooth ground cherry (P. subglabrata, now P. longifolia).
Well, maybe. There are a lot of native ground cherries in the Americas — 46 species in Mexico alone. The extent of maroon inside the flower may give a hint. Physalis longifolia var. subglabrata is as close as I can get.
What I do know is that when the paper lantern dries the fruit is edible, though everything else about the plant is poisonous including the paper husk.
The fruit looks like a tiny tomato. (click here to see.) Its close relative, P. philadelphica, is cultivated for tomatillos.
Perhaps I’ll go back this fall to see the tomatoes inside the lanterns.
(photos by Kate St. John)
Just yesterday I bought some ground cherries at the farmers’ market; a few folks around here cultivate them. They are tasty!
The flowers look very much like the ones on Okra plants.
My first thought was tomatillo. Glad to know I was in the right family.
Beautiful photos. Ground cherries are amazing
This is Physalis alkekengi.