Smooth groundcherry
August 21, 2015
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EmailPhysalis longifolia Nutt. var. subglabrata (Mackenzie & Bush) Cronq.
Life cycle
Erect, branching, rhizomatous perennial.
Young smooth groundcherry plant.
Leaves
Alternate, egg-, lance- to diamond-shaped with entire to toothed margins and long petioles. Leaves are smooth to slightly hairy.
Smooth groundcherry leaf.
Stems
Erect, branching, angled, up to 3-foot-tall herbaceous stems that become smooth and semi-woody with age.
Smooth groundcherry plant.
Flowers and fruit
Flowers have five yellow to greenish yellow petals with purple centers, fused into a bell shape and found drooping and solitary in branch and leaf axils. Fruit are orange, red or purple, globe-shaped berries surrounded by a green, lantern-shaped, papery bladder. Each fruit contains many flat, circular to kidney-shaped seeds.
Smooth groundcherry flower.
Reproduction
Seeds and rhizomes.
Similar weeds
Apple of Peru [Nicandra physalodes (L.) Gaertn.] Differs by having an aggressive, annual habit, being up to 4 feet tall and having blue, upward facing, bell-shaped flowers.
Apple of Peru fruit and flower.
Apple of Peru foliage, flowers, and fruit.
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