1. Salpichroa origanifolia (Lamarck) Thellung, Fl. Advent. Montpellier. 452. 1912.
[F I W]
Cock’s eggs, lily-of-the-valley vine
Physalis origanifolia Lamarck, Tabl. Encycl. 2: 28. 1794; Perizoma rhomboidea (Gillies & Hooker) Small; Salpichroa rhomboidea (Gillies & Hooker) Miers
Herbs with strong odor, (0.2–)0.4–3(–5) m, root sometimes fleshy. Stems ± lignified, usually 1–2(–4)-winged, turning dark when dry. Leaves: petiole shorter than blade; blade ovate-rhombic to suborbiculate, 1.5–4(–6) × 1.5–4(–5) cm, fleshy. Pedicels pendent, slender. Flowers: calyx 2–3.5 mm, incised nearly to base; corolla 3.5–10 mm, inside with dense, wooly, annular band of hairs; stamens not exserted, connivent. Berries pale yellowish white, nearly translucent. 2n = 24.
Flowering Mar–Jul. Cultivated fields, waste ground; 0–2000 m; introduced; Ala., Ariz., Calif., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex., Va.; South America (Argentina, se Bolivia, s Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay); introduced also in w, s Europe (England, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain), Africa (Algeria, Egypt), Australia.
Salpichroa origanifolia can escape cultivation and persist for short periods. The rhizomes are a source of alkaloids (W. C. Evans et al. 1972), and whole plants (growing in Argentina) are a source of withanolides.
