Physalis acutifolia

Sharpleaf ground-cherry

Family: Solanaceae · Type: annual · Native

Sharpleaf ground-cherry is a California native annual found in southern San Joaquin Valley, southern California coastal areas, and desert regions in disturbed places and roadsides at elevations below 400 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces white flowers with a yellow center, rotate-shaped and 15 to 23 millimeters wide. Growing 20 to 100 centimeters tall with branched stems that are sparsely to densely covered in short, appressed hairs, it has an open, spreading form. Its leaves are lanceolate to nearly ovate, 4 to 12 centimeters long with slightly wavy margins that have up to 7 millimeter teeth, often with a pointed tip. In fruit, the plant develops a spheric, 10-angled calyx that enlarges to 20 to 25 millimeters, enclosing its distinctive ground-cherry.

Habitat: Disturbed places, roadsides

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 400 m

Bioregions: s SnJV, SCo, DSon

California counties: Los Angeles, Imperial, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Tulare, Orange, Kern, Butte, Glenn, Stanislaus, Yolo, Colusa, Santa Barbara

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.