Physalis philadelphica Lam.

Flora Zambesiaca. Vol. 8, Part 4. Solanaceae. Gonçalves AE. 2005

Morphology General

Erect, weak to sometimes ± robust, ± dichotomously branched, annual (or short-lived perennial) herb, said to reach 1. 3 m high, usually less in the Flora Zambesiaca area, ± sparsely clothed with simple, appressed to patent, eglandular and sometimes short and minute glandular hairs, more abundant especially on young parts, and occasionally also relatively long glandular hairs, furnished with ± sessile glands too

Morphology Branches

Branches subterete or angular, drying ± sulcate, with mostly short and minute, ± appressed and spreading hairs

Morphology Leaves

Leaves solitary, sometimes tinged violet; petiole (0.2)1–4.5(5.5) cm long, slightly winged, rather sheathing at the base; lamina membranous, (1)2–6.5 × (0.5)1–3.5 cm, ovate to lanceolate, occasionally elliptic or rhombic, base obtuse, cuneate or attenuate, and often oblique to dimidiate, ± decurrent into the petiole, apex acute or ± acuminate, repand to coarsely sinuate-dentate or rather dentate, the teeth often unequal, ± triangular, obtuse, the sinuses rounded, occasionally entire, sparsely ciliate but otherwise ± glabrous (or elsewhere sparsely pubescent)

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers solitary, axillary, erect to pendulous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel

Pedicel violaceous, 2–5 mm long, hairy and glandular, in fruit elongated to 6(8) mm

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx (4)5–7(8) mm long, 4–6(7) mm across at the base of the lobes, broadly campanulate, sub-angled, truncate or invaginated at the base, sparsely pubescent with multicellular, spreading, sometimes glandular hairs, mostly on the angles, or subglabrous, on the inside glabrous except for the lobes with ± dense minute indumentum sometimes only near the apex and the margins; lobes unequal, 1. 5–3.5 × 2–4 mm, ± triangular or ovate, obtuse or ± acute, sometimes sub-acuminate; in fruit green or yellowish-green, often with purple venation, 25–35 × 20–30 mm, ovoid, ± terete or slightly 5(or 10)-angled and somewhat 10-ribbed, sub-acute or bluntly sub-acuminate, often nearly or well-filled by the fruit, the lobes 4–7 × 2.5–5 mm

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla yellow, blotched with 5 dark violaceous or brownish markings strongly contrasting with the surrounding limb, continued by veins along the lobes, 10–15 mm long, ± rotate or broadly campanulate; tube subglabrous, furnished with ± sessile glands, on the inside with dense felted indumentum especially near the insertion of the stamens, continued by shorter and less dense hairs to near the mouth; limb 10–20 mm across, 5-lobed to subentire, erect to widely spreading, sometimes reflexed when fully expanded, on the outside with sparse, short hairs and ± sessile glands, ± glabrous inside, ciliate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens usually exserted, unequal; filaments violaceous, 3.5–5 mm long, filiform, attached to the corolla tube near the base, sometimes furnished with a few hairs; anthers purplish, violaceous to blue, or yellowish with bluish border, 2.5–4 mm long, ovate-oblong to elliptic in outline, usually curved or ± twisted after anthesis

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc

Disk 0.1 mm high, fleshy, glabrous

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary

Ovary 1. 5–1. 8 × 1. 4–1. 7 mm, ovoid or ± globose, glabrous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style

Style 7–8 mm long, filiform, straight or curved upwards

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit green to dark violet or purple, sometimes yellow or yellowish, sessile on the invaginated base of the drooping to pendulous calyx, c.  15 mm (elsewhere said to reach 60 mm) diameter, ± globose, oily or viscid

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds yellowish, 2.2–2.6 × 1. 8–2.1 mm, elliptic or ± orbicular in outline, sometimes reniform, reticulate-foveate

Note

Chromosome number: 2n=24 Common name: “Japanese Gooseberry” or “Tomatillo”. Cultivated mainly for its edible fruits and occurring as an escape or as a weed of cultivation; sometimes locally naturalized in Europe and Africa.

Distribution

ZAM C, ZAM S, ZIM E, ZIM C Native to North America (United States and Mexico), now extending northwards to Canada and southwards throughout Central America and the Antilles to South America (Galapagos). Zambia Zimbabwe