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Ground Cherry

>What is the Latin name of the ground cherry?
>Is it a true cherry?
>Is the name "ground cherry" colloquial?
>Is it known by any other common name?
>I can't find any reference to it in my seed catalogs or in any of my
>gardening encyclopedias.
>Clark,    Harper, Texas zone 8

I'm getting this from _Seed to Seed_ by Suzanne Ashworth.  According to her,
Ground Cherry is the common name for two members of the solanaceae family:
Physalis pubescens is the downy ground cherry, aka yellow husk tomato; and P
subglabrata is the purple ground cherry.  They grow in a husk, like
tomatillos, but don't split the husk open when they ripen; they just fall
from the plant.

I remember a discussion of Cape Gooseberry on the list a while back, too,
which seemed to indicate that they were gooseberry gooseberries, or other
fruit.  (Yeah, yeah, I know the tomato is actually botanically a fruit
which we eat as a vegetable, but no solinaceae is going to actually be a
gooseberry, and I have the gooseberries to prove it!<g>)  Actually, this one
is also listed as a solanaceae, being P. peruviana.  It is also known as a
poha.  Or there is the Dwarf Cape Gooseberry, aka the strawberry tomato,
which is P. pruinosa.

I have my book on the computer desk now.  Any other questions before I get
around to putting it away?

Catherine (Zone 5, alpine desert)

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