Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Ontario Weeds: Clammy ground-cherry

Table of Contents

1. Name
2. Other Names
3. Family
4. General Description
   • Photos and Pictures
5. Stems and Roots
6. Flowers and Fruit
7. Habitat
8. Similar Species
9. 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.

Photos and Pictures

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

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