From the Greekphysa , a bladder , an allusion to the inflated calyx(Solanaceae).A genus of 100 or more mintage of which the two most well - known areP. alkekengi , the Bladder Cherry or Chinese Lantern Plant , with its brilliant , flaming - discolour , air - filled calyces , andP. peruviana , the Cape Gooseberry , which is a glasshouse species . They are one-year and recurrent herbaceous plants , mostly from Mexico and North America .
Species cultivated
P. alkekengi(syns . P. alkekengi franchetii , P. bunyardii , P. franchetii),bladder cherry , vesica herbaceous plant , Formosan lantern plant , winter cherry red , hardy recurrent , 1 - 2 feet , flowers whitish , like to those of the Irish potato , summertime , fruit a single reddish berry enclose in the much inflated showy calyx , up to 2 inches long , turning orange in fall , southeastern Europe to Japan , domesticate in many other parts of the Earth ; vars.gigantea , calyces larger;pygmaea,9 column inch , midget form . P. ixocarpa , tomatillo , half - fearless one-year , 2 feet , flowers yellow , / in or more across , with black - dark-brown blotches in the throat , fruit purple , pasty , almost filling the yellow , regal - veined calyx . The fruits are edible and may be stewed or used for pickle qualification , Mexico , southern United States . P. peruviana(syns . P. edulis . P. peruviana edulis),Cape gooseberry , 3 feet , heyday yellow , blotchy purple , summertime , yield yellow , comestible , South America , glasshouse . P , pruinosa , shadow Cape gooseberry , hemangioma simplex - tomato , half - hardy annual , 2 foot , flowers bell - shaped yellowish , fruits yellow , eatable , southerly United States .
Cultivation
The sturdy mintage ask a rich , well - drain soil in a sunny or partially shaded position and should be found in the springtime . The fruit , popularly telephone ‘ lanterns ’ ( the inflated calyces ) can be used for winter decoration and can be beak and , dry out in the fall . If left out of doors , they become skeletonized . The pinnace coinage require a compost of loam , leafmould , and a small sand and should be plant singly in 5 - 6 in pots placed in a sunny billet . Water freely during the summer and give on a regular basis with a liquid fertilizer . spate up or plant in early spring . Propagate intrepid species by section every three years , and greenhouse species from seed sown in sandy soil in heating in the spring or from press cutting placed in sandy soil in heat between January and April . P. alkekengigrows very smartly and spreads by means of cloak-and-dagger runners . It may be used as a deciduous ground cover charge plant in Lord’s Day or semi - shade . Where it is beseem it can become something of a pain , unmanageable to eradicate unless every piece of root is removed .
How to Grow Physalis
Physalis(fy - sa - lis )
