毛酸浆 mao suan jiang

Physalis cavaleriei H. Léveillé.

Herbs annual. Stems branched, glabrescent or sparingly pubescent. Petiole 3-8 cm, densely pubescent; leaf blade broadly ovate, 3-8 × 2-6 cm, glabrescent or sparsely pubescent, base cordate, often oblique, margin usually unequal dentate, apex acute. Pedicel 3-8 mm, glabrescent. Calyx campanulate, divided to halfway. Corolla pale yellow, spotted in throat. Anthers bluish to purplish, 2-3 mm. Fruiting calyx green, ovate, 2-3 × 2-2.5 cm, weakly 5-angled, slightly invaginated at base, often completely filled by fruit. Berry green, yellow, or purplish, globose, ca. 1.2 cm in diam. Seeds discoid, ca. 2 mm in diam. Fl. May-Aug, fr. Aug-Nov.

Grasslands, disturbed sites, cultivated and naturalized. Heilongjiang, Jilin [native to Mexico, widely cultivated and naturalized]

The fruits are used in some countries for sauce making.

The report in FRPS of Physalis pubescens is actually based on specimens of P. philadelphica. Although Physalis pubescens is a widely distributed New World weed expected to be found in China, no Chinese material has been seen. Lauener (Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 37: 148. 1978) placed P. cavaleriei and P. esquirolii as synonyms of P. pubescens. We have not seen the type specimens, and Léveillé's original description of P. esquirolii notes dark red fruits, which are unknown in American Physalis. Confident assignment of these synonyms awaits further study.