21. Physalis pumila Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 5: 193. 1836.
[E]
Herbs perennial, rhizomatous, rhizomes deeply buried, stout, hispid, hairs simple or 2- or 3-branched, divergent and antrorse, jointed, 0.5–2 mm. Stems erect to decumbent, branching at most nodes or infrequently and only at distal nodes, branches ascending, 1.5–4 dm. Leaves petiolate; petiole 1/10–2/5 blade; blade elliptic-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3–8(–10) × 2–4(–5) cm, base rounded to attenuate and narrowing to petiole, margins entire to sinuate, rarely shallowly, irregularly sinuate-dentate. Pedicels hispid, 8–46 mm, 15–55 mm in fruit. Flowers: calyx 6–12 mm, lobes 2.5–6 mm; corolla yellow with pale brown, ochre, or green tinge or smudges, campanulate-rotate, 9–17 mm; anthers yellow, rarely blue-tinged, not twisted after dehiscence, 1–3 mm. Fruiting calyces loosely enclosing berry, 10-ribbed, 20–40 × 15–30 mm. 2n = 24.
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora): c, sc United States.
Varieties hispida and pumila are quite distinctive in the field but are often difficult to distinguish in the herbarium.
SELECTED REFERENCE Hinton, W. F. 1976. The systematics of Physalis pumila subsp. hispida. Syst. Bot. 1: 188–193.
