Plant Name
Scientific Name: Chamaesaracha coronopus
Common Names: Greenleaf Five Eyes, Small Groundcherry
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland
Flower Color: Pale yellowish green
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer
Height: To 10 inches (25 cm) tall
Description: The flowers are flat, 5-lobed, 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) wide and have fused sepals and petals with a raised white spot at each petal base. The flowers are followed by round, yellow seedpods. The leaves are green, alternate, linear, covered in tiny hairs, and may be lobed.
Special Characteristics
Edible – The yellow seedpods are edible, but aren't often eaten because they are not especially tasty and this plant and its fruit can be similar looking to poisonous plants (nightshades) in the same family.
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: Chamaesaracha (A. Gray) Benth. – five eyes
Species: Chamaesaracha coronopus (Dunal) A. Gray – greenleaf five eyes
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