Physalis greenei

Greene's ground-cherry

Family: Solanaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Greene's ground-cherry is a California native perennial herb found in brushy areas at elevations up to 450 meters. Flowering from September to April, this plant produces cream-colored flowers with green to brownish purple splotches around the midvein, approximately 12 to 15 millimeters wide. Growing with spreading stems 10 to 90 centimeters tall, densely covered in glandular, spreading hairs, it has a distinctive appearance. Its leaves have petioles roughly equal in length to the blade, measuring 15 to 65 millimeters long, with edges ranging from nearly entire to shallowly toothed. The plant develops distinctive fruits with a 15 to 25 millimeter calyx that is deeply 10-angled and ridged.

Habitat: Brushy areas

Bloom period: Sep-Apr

Elevation: <= 450 m

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