Ontario Weeds: Clammy ground-cherry
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Excerpt from Publication 505, Ontario Weeds, Order this publication
Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- Related Links
Name: Clammy ground-cherry, 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.

Clammy ground-cherry.
Stems & Roots: Stems erect, 20-90cm
(8-36in.) high, branched in the upper part, often apparently branching
in 3's (2 branches and 1 leaf petiole) with a flower in the centre;
leaves alternate (1 per node), long-stalked, ovate to somewhat rounded
or diamond shaped in outline, margins smooth or with shallowly and
irregularly rounded teeth; stems and leaves covered with sticky hairs.
Flowers & Fruit: 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 blunt lobes;
petals united forming a trumpet-shaped corolla, mostly yellow with
a dark purple centre; after blossoming, the calyx expands and becomes
bladder-like enclosing a small, sperical, green berry which turns
yellowish when ripe; the berry resembles a small tomato and contains
many small seeds. Flowers from June to September.
Habitat: Clammy ground-cherry occurs
in southern Ontario under dry open woodland, in pastures, cultivated
fields waste areas and roadsides, especially in well-drained coarse
soils.
Similar Species: It is distinguished by its
very deep perennial root, the clammy texture of its sticky stem and
leaves, its yellow and purplish flowers produced in the angles between
usually 3 or more stems and leaves, and its bladder-like inflated
calyx containing a small greenish or yellowish berry.
Related Links
... on general Weed
topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA
Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA
Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
For more information:
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