Plant Name
Scientific Name: Physalis hederifolia
Synonym: Physalis hederaefolia
Common Names: Ivyleaf Groundcherry, Ivy-leaf Ground Cherry
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland, Mountain. This drab wildflower grows in dry, sunny, rocky areas.
Flower Color: Pale dull yellow, Dingy yellow-green
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer
Height: To 20 inches (51 cm) tall
Description: The flowers are 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) across and have 5 blunt-tipped lobes. The lobes are often bent backwards toward the stem and have darker, brownish patches at the lobe bases. The leaves have wavy, variably large-toothed margins and are green, alternate, petiolate, and heart-shaped to broadly oval in shape. The fruit is a round, green berry inside of a large, inflated, paper lantern-like green calyx. When dry, the berry is yellow-brown and wrinkled and the calyx is tan and papery. The stems are green and branched.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae – Potato family
Genus: Physalis L. – groundcherry
Species: Physalis hederifolia A. Gray – ivyleaf groundcherry
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