NEW YORK EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 353 



in a dry chamber. They are sweet and pleasant, with a little acid, and 

 they are considerably used for preserves, and sometimes for sauce. The 

 plant is worthy a place in every home garden. It is grown more or less 

 by small gardeners near the large cities, and the fruits are often seen in 

 the winter markets. The chief objection to the plant is its prostrate habit 

 of growth, which demands a large amount of ground for its cultivation. 

 In good soil it will spread four feet in all directions if not headed in, but 

 as we ordinarily grow it, the plants are set in rows three or four feet apart 

 and two or three feet apart in the row. We have made repeated attempts 

 to hybridize this species with others, and vice versa, but always without 

 success. 



This physalis has been long in cultivation. It was figured by Dillenius 

 in 1774, in his account of the plants growing in Dr. Sherard's garden at 

 Eltham, England. In 1781-6 it was figured by Jacquin, and by him called 

 Physalis Barbadensis, from the island of Barbadoes, whence it was sup- 

 posed to have come into cultivation. In 1807 r Martyn described it under 

 the name of Barbadoes winter cherry or Physalis Barbadensis, and says that 

 it is a native of Barbadoes. None of these authors say anything about its 

 culinary uses. Dunal, in 1852, described it as var. Barbadensis of Phy- 

 salis hirsuta, but later botanists unite Dunal's P. hirsuta with Linnaeus' 

 P. pubescens, of which this husk tomato is but a cultivated form. 



2. Physalis Peruviana. I have grown this under the names cape 

 gooseberry (not dwarf cape gooseberry), Physalis Peruviana, and P. 

 pubescens. As compared with the above species, it is a much stronger 

 grower, the plant standing partially erect and attaining a height of one 

 and a half to three feet; leaves thicker, less regularly toothed, more pointed, 

 heart-shape at the base, and very pubescent or fuzzy; flowers larger (^ or 

 | inches long), open-bell-shape, the limb or border widely spreading and 

 light yellow, the interior or throat blotched and veined with five purple 

 spots, the anthers blue-purple. The husk is thicker and larger than in the 

 last, somewhat hairy, and has a much longer point. This species is too late 

 for our climate. At Lansing, Michigan, during two or three years, the 

 flowers did not appear until the middle of August, and very few ripe fruits 

 were obtained. Here at Ithaca perhaps a fourth of the crop ripens. The 

 berry is yellow, not glutinous, and much like that of P. pubescens in 

 appearance, but it seems to be less sweet than that species. 



This plant has been cultivated for two centuries, probably. It was 

 described and figured by Morison in 1715 in England. In 1725 Feuillee 

 gave a description of its cultivation in Peru, saying that it was then culti- 

 vated with care and was greatly esteemed as a preserve. The particular 

 form of the species cultivated in our gardens is that which was described 

 and figured by Sims in 1807 as Physalis edulis, the " edible physalis. " 

 Sims' account says that "this plant is a native of Peru and Chili, but is 

 cultivated at the cape of Good Hope, in some parts of the East Indies, 

 and more especially at the English settlement of New SdUth Wales, at 

 which latter place it is known by the name of the cape gooseberry, and is 

 the chief fruit the colonists at present possess; is eaten raw, or made into 

 pies, puddings, or preserves." 



This plant is rarely sold by American seedsmen. I have grown it mostly 

 from French seeds. I once had it from New Zealand under the name of 

 cape gooseberry. 



3. Physalis capsicifolia, "capsicum leaved" or "peper-leaved physalis." 

 From a botanical point of view, this is one of the most interesting species 



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