Clammy Groundcherry
Scientific Name: Physalis heterophylla Nees.
Other Names: coqueret hétérophylle, cerise de terre
Family: Nightshade or Potato Family (Solanaceae)
General Description: Perennial, reproducing by seed and by deeply penetrating and widely spreading roots.
Habitat: Occurs in southern Ontario under dry open woodland, in pastures, cultivated fields waste areas and roadsides, especially in well-drained coarse soils.
Seedlings
- Cotyledons:
- Hairy
- Green
- 4- 9 mm (0.16- 0.35 in.) long
- 1- 4 mm (0.04- 0.16 in.) wide
- Hairy
Stems
- Erect
- 20- 90 cm (8- 36 in.) high
- Branched in the upper part in 3’s (2 branches and 1 leaf petiole) with a flower in the centre
- Covered with sticky hairs
Leaves
- Alternate (1 per node)
- Long-stalked
- Ovate to somewhat rounded or diamond shaped in outline
- Margins smooth or with shallowly irregularly rounded teeth
- Covered with sticky hairs
Flowers
- Borne singly in the angles where 2 or 3 stems and leaves come together
- Drooping on short stalks
- Calyx at first tubular with 5 short lobes
- Petals form a trumpet-shaped corolla
- Mostly yellow with a dark purple centre
- Flowers from June to September
Fruit
- Spherical
- Green berry turns yellowish when ripe
- Resembles a small tomato
- Contains many small seeds
Often Confused With
Smooth Groundcherry (Clammy groundcherry is very hairy all over, while smooth groundcherry is slightly hairy, and older shoots are smooth)
Horse-nettle (Horse-nettle has prickles on the stems and leaves)