580 MISCELLANEOUS VEGETABLES. 



CHAPTER XII. 

 MISCELLANEOUS VEGETABLES. 



Alkekengi, or Ground Cherry. Corn. Egg-plant. Martynia. Oil 

 Radish. Okra, or Gumbo. Pepper. Rhubarb, or Pie-plant. Sun- 

 flower. Tobacco. Tomato. 



ALKEKENGI. 



Strawberry Tomato. Winter Cherry. Ground Cherry. Barbadoes 

 Gooseberry. Physalis edulis. 



[ROBABLY from Central or Tropical Amer- 

 ica. It is a hardy, annual plant, with an 

 angular, branching, but not erect stem, in 

 good soil attaining a height or length of more 

 than three feet. Leaves large, triangular ; 

 the flowers are solitary, yellow, spotted or marked with pur- 

 ple, and about half an inch in diameter ; the fruit is round- 

 ish or obtuse-heart-shaped, half an inch in diameter, yellow, 

 semi-transparent at maturity, and enclosed in a peculiar thin, 

 membranous, inflated, angular calyx, or covering, which is 

 of a pale green color while the fruit is forming, but at matu- 

 rity changes to a dusky white or reddish-drab. The pedicel, 

 or fruit-stem, is weak and slender, and most of the berries 

 fall spontaneously to the ground at the time of ripening. 



The seeds are small, yellow, lens-shaped, and retain their 

 germinative properties three years. 



The plants are exceedingly prolific, and will thrive in 

 almost any description of soil. Sow at the same time, and 



