Physalis pubescens Linnaeus var. missouriensis (Mackenzie & Bush) Waterfall

Herbs annual, taprooted, sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs simple, jointed, glandular and eglandular, to 0.5 mm. Stems erect, branching at most nodes, branches spreading, 1.5–5.5 dm. Leaves petiolate; petiole 2/5 to as long as blade; blade broadly ovate to orbiculate, 2.5–5.5 × 1.5–5 cm, base rounded, sometimes truncate, margins irregularly, shallowly crenate-dentate. Pedicels 4–7 mm, 5–10 mm in fruit. Flowers: calyx 2.5–4 mm, densely glandular-pubescent, lobes 1–2 mm; corolla yellow, without spots or smudges, campanulate-rotate, 5–7 mm; anthers yellow, not twisted after dehiscence, 1–1.5 mm. Fruiting calyces loosely enclosing berry, 10-ribbed, 10–20 × 10–20 mm. 2n = 24.

Flowering Jun–Sep(–Oct). Rocky bluffs, dolomite ledges, cliffs, wooded slopes and stream banks primarily on the Ozark Plateau; 50–500 m; Ark., Kans., Mo., Nebr., Okla.

Physalis missouriensis is uncommon and most easily confused with P. pubescens, from which it can be distinguished by its unspotted corolla and ten-ribbed fruiting calyx.