At left i* a good selection in size and appearance of the Mayan husk tomato 

 or Ground Cherry. At the right it has been treated with Colchicine. Note the 

 abnormal growth of husk and fruit. Such fruits contain practically no seed. 



about •''s-inch in diameter within balloon-like husks. The^e berries make ex- 

 cellent preserves. The second species, P. ixocarpa or Mayan ground cherry, 

 was introduced into this country from Central America and Mexico. It 

 has large, light greenish or yellow, tomato-like fruits two inches or more 

 in diameter that fill or burst open their surrounding husk. In the coun- 

 tries to the south of the United States, the large ground cherries are used 

 much as the tomato is eaten in this country. Despite the subtropical origin 

 of the Mavan ground cherry, it is remarkably early. The fruits will ripen 

 in areas too far north for successful culture of the earliest tomatoes. 



Within the several species of the ground cherry noted there are avail- 

 able all necessary characteristics for an extremely early new vegetable plant 

 bearing appetizing attractive fruits of good size and flavor, if only the 

 desired crosses can be accomplished. Crosses have been tried repeatedly 

 in an attempt to combine the size and productivity of Physalis ixocarpa 

 with the good-flavored fruits of either the common ground cherry or the 

 Cape Gooseberry. Mr. Shi-an Yu* succeeded in getting some seeds from 

 attempted interspecific crosses, but the F^ plants grown in the field in 

 1956 proved mostly sterile. Frequently only parthenocarpic fruits are ob- 

 tained following interspecific pollinations. Colchicine treatment of plants 

 has also been tried without appreciable gains. The greatest progress to 

 date has been by selection with the somewhat variable populations of the 

 Mavan ground cherrv: also some superior selections have been made from 

 the common ground cherry. Observations on several other wild species of 

 Physalis are being made and further breeding work with the ground cherries 

 is contemplated. 



Nect 



arme 



Ion 



In Station Bulletin 380 mention was made of crossing a Korean sweet 

 melon and Granite State muskmelon. Even more promising results have 

 been procured from a cross betwen the Korean sweet melon, Kimmaka, and 

 a honevdew melon from North Africa called Jaune Canaire. The latter cross 



*Graduate research assistant 1954 to present. 



15 



