Physalis thread

[Gekko]

Well, I hope that it is ok to talk about these Capsicum relatives here too...  :wink:

We were talking about JartsaP's mystery Physalis in the JohnF's  introduction thread. I think it might be a good idea to move the discussion here. So we can talk about other Physalis species and cultivars here too.

Now I've got one mystery plant flowering, and I'm quite sure that it is Physalis pruinosa. At least it is not Physalis angulata or peruviana, for sure.

[img=http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/2351/ppruin8yt.th.jpg]

The flower is very small, I had some focus problems, but I hope you can see that the anthers are not blue, calyx veins are not purple and the whole plant is very hairy.

[JohnF]

Hi Gekko

I think a lot of them have similar flowers. Here are pictures of some I've grown. Hope this helps. I find them to be very interesting plants too.
http://www.pbase.com/chiles400/solanaceae

[svalli]

I found this Physalis growing as a weed in my cutting garden. Stems and leaves of the plant are hairy. There was already one berry forming inside a husk. Could this be edible?


An other Solanaceae has popped up in one of my my flower beds as a weed. Flower has pretty colors, so I may let it grow.

[svalli]

The Physalis in my flower garden may be Clammy Ground Cherry (Physalis heterophylla), which is native to the area and the berries are edible.
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/cl_cherryx.htm

The other one is Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara). I may have to pull it out before the berries ripen, so our son does not eat them.
http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.asp?SpCode=SOLDUL

[Gekko]

The Physalis in my flower garden may be Clammy Ground Cherry (Physalis heterophylla), which is native to the area and the berries are edible.

I have never tasted Physalis heterophylla berries, but I've heard they taste good, so at least you should try them when ripe. Some native American indians used to eat it.

The other one is Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara). I may have to pull it out before the berries ripen, so our son does not eat them.

There is Solanum dulcamara in my backyard as well. A beautiful plant, but I will cut the berries off, I've got a son too.

EDIT: Physalis viscosa (sticky ground cherry) has been reported as very good tasting plant, does anybody have any idea if it is true? What about seed availability? It should be common in U.S.

[Aji Inferno]

The Physalis in my flower garden may be Clammy Ground Cherry (Physalis heterophylla), which is native to the area and the berries are edible.
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/cl_cherryx.htm

The other one is Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara). I may have to pull it out before the berries ripen, so our son does not eat them.
http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.asp?SpCode=SOLDUL

I just wondered at Physalis Alkekengis in my father's garden... Healthy, small plants. And a nuisance of a kind, I've heard. Just wondering... The way they overwinter using roots, even here in Finland, does that happen with other species of Physalis as well (any experiences)?

Even more interesting: wonder whether the same could happen with some capsicums as well..? You know, we still have this project called "Aji Perkele" about a native Finnish chili.

Nightshade..? Oh you guys have all the really cool plants like that one and Poison Ivy there in the States. Do nettles grow in Wisconsin? Never seen ones anywhere in the US. And for those in the States who don't know the plant: please believe me - you don't want to know much more. If Poison Ivy is bad, this one is worse...  :twisted:

[svalli]

Physalis viscosa (sticky ground cherry) has been reported as very good tasting plant, does anybody have any idea if it is true? What about seed availability? It should be common in U.S.

By USDA information it grows only in the southern states, so I may not find it on our yard. So far I have seen Physalis plants with dark green leaves, which could be Physalis longifolia and now also the hairy ones.

The way they overwinter using roots, even here in Finland, does that happen with other species of Physalis as well (any experiences)?

The native wild Physalis plants on our yard are perennial, so they will grow back from the root.

Do nettles grow in Wisconsin?

Stinging Nettles do grow all around North America, but luckily I have not seen them in our area. Once I found one nettle growing in the pot of a fruit tree, which we bought from a nursery. I quickly pulled the nettle away, so it could not invade our yard. Our son has learned about nettles while visiting Finland and now he is all the time asking if this or that plant is a nettle. The wild catnip looks a lot like nettle and has got also me alarmed couple of times.

[JohnF]

Growing wild in the shade in neighbors yard

[JartsaP]

Solanum dulcamara, Bittersweet Nightshade ("punakoiso" in Finnish), is one of very few Solanaceae species which is native to Europe and Asia, it grows wild even here in Finland, and somehow travelled to North America and naturalized there. It makes me once again wonder, why Eurasian Solanaceae plants are always so useless, even poisonous, but so many edible and even extremely useful have been found from the Americas. There are few exceptions, of course: Eggplant is native to Asia and some closely related species, with similar uses, are native to Africa. Australia also has its own, more or less useful Solanaceae plants (mainly less), usually tough little plants growing in dry outback, and having tiny fruits which dry in the desert sun and are sometimes eaten by aboriginals. But most of the best Solanaceae plants from human point of view are found from South and Central America.