Physalis longifolia

Nuttall

Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 5: 193. 1836.

Treatment appears in FNA Volume 14.

Herbs perennial, rhizomatous, rhizomes deeply buried, stout, glabrous or sparsely strigose, hairs simple, antrorse, to 0.5 mm. Stems erect or erect to decumbent, branching fre­quently at distal nodes or several-branched from base, branches spreading or ascend­ing, 1–6 dm. Leaves petiolate; petiole 1/5–2/5 blade; blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, 2.5–10(–13) × 0.5–6(–7) cm, base truncate to rounded, mar­gins entire to coarsely dentate or irregularly crenate-dentate with only a few teeth. Pedicels 5–18 mm, 12–35 mm in fruit. Flowers: calyx (5–)7–12 mm, sparsely strigose with short, antrorse hairs, lobes 3–6 mm; corolla yellow with 5 purple-brown smudges, campanulate-rotate, 10–20 mm; anthers yellow or blue-tinged, not twisted after dehiscence, 2–4 mm. Fruiting calyces loosely enclosing berry, 10-ribbed, 20–40 × 15–30 mm. 2n = 24.

Distribution

North America, n Mexico, introduced in Australia.

Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Selected References

None.

Key

1 Stems erect to decumbent, branching at base; leaf blades glabrous. Physalis longifolia var. texana
1 Stems erect, branching at distal nodes; leaf blades glabrous or sparsely strigose. > 2
2 Leaf blades narrowly ovate-lanceolate to lan­ceolate; anthers yellow. Physalis longifolia var. longifolia
2 Leaf blades ovate to ovate-lanceolate or broadly lanceolate; anthers blue-tinged. Physalis longifolia var. subglabrata