Husk Tomatoes

On Mon, 21 Sep 1998, perennials DIGEST wrote:
> From: "Miller, Devon" <dmiller@kilstock.com>
> Subject: Re:  PHYSALIS (Chinese Lantern)
> 
> I planted chinese lantern several times, and thought it was a flop --
> but behind my back it took hold and now is horribly invasive, and not
> very pretty.  My garden is not very sunny, but my sense is that this
> thing would thrive anywhere, once it takes hold.
>  ----------
No, Chinese Lantern plants are not terribly pretty, although the lanterns 
are attractive to some of us, if not to others.  What was not mentioned 
in the two previous posts on PHYSALIS (I receive Perennials in digest 
form, so I don't know if there have been subsequent ones on this topic) 
is that many species produce edible fruits that are called husk 
tomatoes.  I find these delicious in salads and as a garnish.  Alexander 
D. Hawkes, in his A World of Vegetable Cookery, an Encyclopedic Treasury 
of Recipes, Botany and Love of the Vegetable Kingdom (NY, Simon & 
Schuster, c1968, 274 pp. illus.), describes them as "attractive plants" 
and notes that there are over 75 species, of which "most can be eaten 
raw, or added whole or halved to salads."  He says "a highly flavored 
very pleasant sauce can be prepared from them, much as one would make 
a tomato sauce, and it can be served to advantage, especially with roast 
red meats."  He adds that the tomatillo--"little tomato"--of Mexico 
(Physalis ixocarpa) is very popular there, and to a degree in our own 
Southwest, where it's used "in the production of a variety of heavily 
spiced 'chili sauces'".  On pages 124 and 125 he gives recipes for Husk 
Tomato Preserves and Husk Tomato Pie.  The latter sounds like an 
absolutely fabulous quiche, and I would gladly have made one this summer, 
but never did collect enough of the fruits from my single plant to 
attempt it.  I grew it this summer from a seedling someone brought to our 
rock garden society plant exchange, labelled only "husk tomato".  Whoever 
brought it put it in the section of the exchange that is reserved for 
house plants, and labelled it in English only.  I recognized it only as a 
Chinese lantern plant only a month later when it began to produce 
lanterns.  The label "husk tomato" made me suspect the lanterns might 
contain edible fruit, so I opened one, and, voila, a husk tomato was 
revealed.  I had grown them about twenty-five years ago, but had no idea 
at the time that the contents of the lanterns were edible.

When the fruit is ripe, the lanterns drop to the ground, and apparently, 
in my garden at least, the fruit is protected by them from predators, 
despite the fact that this would seem to be against nature's way of 
encouraging the spread of seeds.  But they sit there, 
ignored by chipmunks and birds, so that one does not have to worry about 
gathering them up every day.  Rains cause the husks to deteriorate, and 
once the fruit becomes visible, the birds, etc., carry them off quickly.  
We had one rain this summer, and that's how I found out about that.

Why where these plants brought to a rock garden club exchange?  After my 
plant matured, it was about eight inches tall, about a foot across, with 
attractive bright green leaves, and yellow Chinese lanterns.  Very 
charming in the rock garden, although, unfortunately, I had not planted 
it there.  I did put it in full sun, and it bloomed profusely during July 
and August.  After that, it stopped blooming, either because that is its 
normal blooming season, or else because of our terrible drought, which, 
according to the weather service, is the worst in the history of the state. 
I've watered my garden almost daily since June, and am terrified of the 
imminence of our quarterly water bill.

Harry Dewey, zone 7, Beltsville Maryland  

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