9. Chamaesaracha (A. Gray) Bentham & Hooker f., Gen. Pl. 2: 891. 1876.
Five eyes [Greek chamai, on the ground, and genus Saracha, alluding to low habit and similarity]
John E. Averett†
Saracha Ruiz & Pavon [unranked] Chamaesaracha A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 62. 1874
Herbs, perennial, spreading, rhizomatous, glabrous or variously pubescent, hairs eglandular or glandular. Stems decumbent to ± prostrate or suberect, branching from base and nodes. Leaves alternate, subsessile or petiolate; blade simple, ± undulate, entire to deeply lobed. Inflorescences axillary, (1–)2–4(–5)-flowered clusters; pedicels slender, 1–3 cm, elongating to 2.5–3.5 and becoming curved in fruit. Flowers 5-merous; calyx accrescent, campanulate, 5-lobed, in fruit not inflated and shorter than berry; corolla creamy white to light yellow, rotate; stamens equal; filaments inserted near base of corolla tube; anthers basifixed, oblong, dehiscing by longitudinal slits; ovary 2-carpellate; style straight to slightly curved, slender; stigma capitate. Fruits dry berries, globose, tightly invested by, not enclosed by, accrescent calyx. Seeds flattened, reniform rugose-reticulate. x = 12.
Species 10 (8 in the flora): sc, sw United States, n Mexico.
Chamaesaracha is commonly encountered in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts and arid grasslands of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is distinguished from other Physalideae Miers by the dry berry and closely appressed, accrescent calyx that does not completely enclose the fruit, and by rugose-reticulate seeds. Chamaesaracha nana (A. Gray) A. Gray was transferred to Leucophysalis (J. E. Averett 1970). Chamaesaracha geohintonii Averett & B. L. Turner and C. rzedowskiana Hunziker occur in Mexico.
SELECTED REFERENCES Averett, J. E. 1973. Biosystematic study of Chamaesaracha (Solanaceae). Rhodora 75: 325–365. Turner, B. L. 2015. Taxonomy of Chamaesaracha (Solanaceae). Phytologia 97: 226–245.
