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Southwestern groundcherry

Physalis caudella

Southwestern groundcherry
Photo: Andrew Tree, CC BY 4.0

Physalis caudella is a small perennial groundcherry from the nightshade family, native to southeastern Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico. Its small papery-husked fruits are edible, and it is grown for its fruit and as a hardy native groundcover in dry, warm climates.

Family
Solanaceae (Nightshade family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently, letting the soil dry between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained sandy or gritty soil; tolerates poor soil.
Temperature
18–35 °C; tolerates light frost but protect below -5 °C.
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
E. Arizona to New Mexico and Mexico
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Physalis caudella, the southwestern groundcherry or tomatillo chiquito, is a plant in the family Solanaceae, native to Arizona, Sonora and Chihuahua. The purple-green fruits are small but edible.

Other Physalis plants

Cutleaf groundcherry · Cotztomatl · Strawberry-tomato · Ivyleaf groundcherry · Longleaf groundcherry · Physalis nicandroides · Peruvian groundcherry · Tomatillo · Husk Tomato · Husk tomato · Starhair groundcherry · Groundcherry

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Physalis caudella by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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