JeremiahT:
I’m assuming that this is a different species. “Aunt Molly’s,” et al., are commmonly designated P. pruinosa, though I’ve also seen them listed as “Physalis pubescens var. integrifolia.” (Frankly, I’m a little confused about cultivated ground cherry taxonomy; if anyone can resolve my confusion, I’d appreciate it much!)
Actually it seems we’ve been wrong about Physalis pruinosa this whole time, it’s actually a wild mexican species. The cultivated type incorrectly applied as Physalis pruinosa is actually Physalis grisea .
So I just found out that the Aunt Molly’s Groundcherry sold as (Physalis pruinosa) is actually Physalis grisea and we’ve all been collectively misapplying the Physalis pruinosa scientific name ever since. The true Physalis pruinosa is actually a wild mexican species previously classified as Physalis maxima.
The real Physalis pruinosa is actually a wild Mexican Species that looks like this.
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This wild mexican speices is also often confused with Physalis nicandroides which looks like th…
I also made this Physalis species ID Guide.
I made a Physalis species ID Guide to help distinguish between Physalis species, especially among cultivated & wild species commonly found growing in the U.S.
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I also made a PDF version for clear viewing.
Physalis Species ID Guide.pdf (6.5 MB)
I’m always looking for ways to improve, let me know how this could be improved or if I got something wrong.
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