clammy groundcherry

not listed

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

not listed

Clammy groundcherry is a 8″ to 36″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises from a tough, deep, horizontal, underground stem (rhizome). It often forms colonies.

The stems are branched. The upper part of the stem is densely covered with both long, soft, shaggy hairs and sticky, glandular hairs.

The leaves are alternate, thick, soft to the touch, stalked, egg-shaped or diamond-shaped, 1½″ to 4″ long, and 1½″ to 2½″ wide. They are broad and rounded or heart-shaped at the base, and taper to a point at the tip with straight sides along the tip. The margins have a few irregular teeth. The upper and lower surfaces have silky, appressed hairs as well as glandular hairs.

The inflorescence is single flowers nodding at the end of ⅜″ to 3 ⁄5″ long, glandular-hairy stalks (pedicels) rising from the leaf axils.

The flowers are ½″ to ¾″ long and wide. There are 5 pale yellow petals with purple to brown splotches near the center. They are fused into a bell-shaped corolla with 5 shallow lobes.

The fruit is a ½″ spherical, berry, green at first, turning yellow at maturity. It is enclosed in an inflated, papery, heart-shaped, ¾″ long husk. The tip of the husk is mostly closed, and the base has a shallow indentation where it connects to the stem. The husk hangs from a pedicel that has elongated to 1⅛″. The berries are poisonous when green, edible when ripe.

8″ to 36″

Pale yellow with purple to brown centers

Virginia groundcherry (Physalis virginiana var. virginiana) is a shorter plant, no more than 24″ at maturity. The upper stems are covered with short, stiff hairs that are bent backward, and no glandular hairs. The leaves are narrow, taper to the base, and extend down along the stem somewhat. They lack the “clammy” feel. The fruit is an orange berry. The base of the husk is sunken (this may be difficult to distinguish from the “indented” base of clammy groundcherry).

Dry. Upland woods, prairies. Full or partial sun.

June to September

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Native

A redescription of Physalis heterophylla (Waterfall, 1958) separated the species into three varieties based in stem thickness and the density of long hairs. A later analysis (J. R. Sullivan, 2004) concluded that there was too much overlap in these characteristics to warrant recognition of the varieties. Today (2023), some sources, including ITIS, GBIF, USDA PLANTS, and NatureServe, recognize two varieties, P. h. var. rowellii and P. h. var. heterophylla. Other sources, including GRIN, NCBI, iNaturalist, Plants of the World Online, and World Flora Online, recognize no varieties.

I think this might be some kind of Ground Cherry
Plant ...

It was blooming at Frenchman’s Bluff SNA last June 18, 2020. But I'm not really sure just what it is.

Plant

Leaves

Location: Frenchman’s Bluff SNA

I think this might be some kind of Ground Cherry Plant ... But I'm not really sure just what it is.

Location: NE Mpls

Discovered a large patch growing on the edge of a large Juniper near a patch of Native Prairie Plants much to our delight