Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Hispid ground-cherry

HISPID GROUND-CHERRY

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Physalis hispida (Waterf. ) Cronquist

Sandsage Bison Range, Finney County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6-18 inches

Family: Solanaceae - Nightshade Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August

Stems:

Ascending to erect, branched proximally, with simple, non-glandular hairs.

Leaves:

Cauline, alternate; petiole .2 to 1 inch; blade elliptic to oblanceolate, 1 to 2.8 inches long, .16 to 1 inch wide, base attenuate, margins entire to slightly irregularly sinuate-dentate, apex acute to obtuse.

Inflorescences:

Axillary, 1-flowered.

Flowers:

Radially symmetric, nodding at flowering; pedicels .6 to 1.2 inch in flower, .8 to 1.6 inch in fruit; calyx campanulate, 5-lobed, .4 to .6 inch, hispid proximally, sometimes only along veins, lobes .12 to .2 inch; corolla pale yellow, center with faint or no dark spots, campanulate to nearly rotate, 5-angled to entire, .5 to .7 inch; stamens 5, included; anthers yellow, .1 to .14 inch.

Fruits:

Fruiting calyx bladdery-inflated, loose-fitting around berry, .8 to 1.6 inch, 10-angled; berry globose, .4 to .6 inch diam.; seeds numerous, reniform to ovate, somewhat flattened, minutely pitted.

Habitat:

Sand and sandsage prairies, sandy mixed-grass prairies, stream valleys, roadsides, fields

Distribution:

West 2/3 of Kansas

Origin:

Native

Comments:

Physalis, bladder, alluding to the inflated calyx and hispida, hispid. The plants are sparsely hispid with simple hairs.

Hispid ground-cherry flower