Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Clammy ground cherry

CLAMMY GROUND CHERRY

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Physalis heterophylla Nees

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 2-20 inches

Family: Solanaceae - Nightshade Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August, September

Stems:

Erect, simple to branched, more or less glandular-hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, stalked, ovate to rhombic, 1.5 to 4 inches long, 1.5 to 2.5 inches wide, thick, glandular-hairy; margins irregularly wavy-toothed to entire; tips pointed.

Inflorescences:

Solitary flowers, in leaf axils.

Flowers:

Bell-shaped, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, roughly as wide, on stalks to 3/5 inch long, droop at flowering; calyces 5-lobed, hairy; corollas shallowly 5-lobed, pale yellow; centers purple to brown; stamens 5, anthers yellow to purplish brown.

Fruits:

Berries, spherical, to 1/2 inch in diameter, yellow, enclosed in inflated, papery calyx; seeds many, egg-shaped, pitted, pale yellow.

Habitat:

Waste areas, prairies, thickets, disturbed sites, gardens, and roadsides, most abundant in sandy soils.

Distribution:

East 2/3 of Kansas.

Toxicity:

The unripe green fruits are poisonous.

Uses:

The ripe, yellow fruits are edible and were used widely for food by Indians of the Great Plains. Native Americans used the roots to dress wounds and to make a tea that was taken for headaches and stomach ailments.

Comments:

Several ground cherry species are found in Kansas.

Clammy ground cherry inflorescence