PHYSALIS 



PHYSIANTHUS 



1321 



eaten from the hand (at least as grown in the N.). It 

 is a very vigorous and productive plant and is of some 

 consequence as an ornamental, but it is too weedy to be 

 of much value. The fr. is larger than in the native P. 

 (i)njnl(it(i. The plant tigiuvd ly Carriere as P. riolacea 

 (R.H. 1882:216) is the one here described. In Mexico, 

 the fruits are said to be used in the making of chilli 

 sauce and as a dressing for meats, usually under the 

 name of "tomatoes." The Mexican forms are confused. 



BB. Stems pubescent or hairy. 



pubescens, Linn. STRAWBERRY TOMATO of vegetable 

 gardens. DWARF CAPE GOOSEBERRY. HUSK TOMATO. 

 GROUND CHERRY. Fig. 1775. Low, trailing flat on the 

 ground, or sometimes ascending to the height of a foot: 

 Ivs. rather thin and nearly smooth, more or less regu- 

 larly and prominently notched with blunt teeth: fls. 

 small ( % in. or less long) , bell-shaped, the limb or border 

 erect and whitish yellow, the throat marked with 5 large 

 brown spots; anthers yellow: husk smooth or nearly so, 

 thin and paper-like, prominently 5-angled and somewhat 

 larger than the small, yellow, sweetish and not glutinous 

 fruit. X. Y. to the tropics. The plant is very prolific, 

 and the fruits are considerably earlier than in the other 

 species. When ripe the fruits fall, and if the season is 

 ordinarily dry they will often keep in good condition 

 upon the ground for 3 or 4 weeks. The fruits will keep 

 nearly all winter if put away in the husks 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 4 feet in all directions if not headed in. 

 The plants are set in rows 3 or 4 feet apart and 2 or 3 

 feet apart in the row. 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 supposed to have come into 

 cultivation. In 1807, Marty n also described it under the 

 name of Barbadoes Winter Cherry, or Physalis Barba- 

 densis, 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 

 Physalis hirsuta, but later botanists unite Dunal's 

 P. hirsuta with Linnaeus' P. pubescens, of which this 

 -common Husk Tomato is but a cultivated form. 



1776. Physalis Peruviana (fruits X 



Peruviana, Linn. (P. fdulis, Sims). CAPE GOOSE- 

 BERRY. Fig. 1776. As compared with P. pubescens, 

 this is a much stronger grower, the plant standing par- 

 tially erect and attaining a height of l%-3 ft.: Ivs. 

 thicker, less regularly toothed, more pointed, heart- 

 jshaped at the base, and very pubescent or fuzzy: fls. 



larger (% or % in. long), open-bell-shaped, the limb or 

 border widely spreading and light yellow, the interior 

 or throat blotched and veined with 5 purple spots, the 

 anthers blue-purple: husk thicker and larger than in 

 the last, somewhat hairy, and has a much longer point. 

 Tropics. B.M. 1068. This species is too late for the 

 northern states. The berry is yellow, not glutinous, and 

 much like that of P. pubescens in appearance, but it 

 seems to be less sweet than of 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 cultivated 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 South 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." The 

 plant is rarely sold by American seedsmen. 



P. lobata offered by dealers is not known to the writer. It is 

 advertised as one of the Ground or Winter Cherries, with vio- 

 let fruit. It is probably not P. lobata, Torr. Perhaps a form of 

 the ctdtivated P. ixocarpa. P. Philadelphia, Lam., a native 

 species, is said by Britton & Brown to have been "formerly 

 cultivated for its fruit." J J< jj t g^ 



PHYSIANTHUS (Greek, bladder flower; referring to 

 the base of the corolla -tube). Asclepiadacece. This 

 genus was long ago referred to Araujia, but the plants 

 are still known to our trade under the names of Physi- 

 anthus and Schubertia. Araujia is a genus of about 13 

 species of shrubby twiners from the American tropics, 

 closely resembling in superficial characters the popular 

 Stephanotis, having the same large white waxy fragrant 

 5-lobed fls. A. graveolens, in particular, has been sug- 

 gested as a rival to the Stephanotis, especially as it 

 requires less winter heat, but its foliage when bruised 

 emits a strong and offensive odor, especially with young 

 plants. A. sericofera has considerably smaller fls. and 

 is one of several plants advertised as "Cruel Plants," 

 because they entrap insects, though they may not digest 

 their dead bodies as in the case of Nepenthes. These 

 Cruel Plants are mostly members of the milkweed and 

 dogbane families, which have essentially the same kind 

 of floral structure a highly complicated and specialized 

 type adapted to cross-fertilization by insects. In Fig. 

 149 of this work, an insect is seen struggling in 

 the clutch of a common milkweed, with a pair 

 of pollen-masses hung over one of his hind leg 

 like saddle-bags. Araujia sericofera catches 

 moths in a slightly different fashion. See G. C. 

 III. 20:523. For other "Cruel Plants," see Cyan- 

 anchum and Vincetoxicum. 



When well grown, Araujias bloom freely 

 throughout Sept. and Oct. They seem to have 

 no special soil requirements and may be flow- 

 ered outdoors from seed sown indoors in early 

 spring, or they may be kept permanently in a 

 cool greenhouse and grown from cuttings. It is 

 seldom that we see A. graveolens grown well 

 in greenhouses, the plants being usually sickly 

 and infested with mealy bug. As a summer vine 

 in the open it makes vigorous growth, and after 

 midsummer it usually blooms profusely. The fls. 

 are larger than those of Stephanotis. Cuttings 

 make the best flowering vines. These may be 

 taken from the ripe wood before cool weather. 

 Seeds are freely produced, and germinate well 

 s6on after being sown. Araujias are considered 

 hardy in the most favored parts of England, and 

 are grown outdoors in Calif. A. graveolens can 

 be flowered in pots, but the border of the greenhouse 

 is better. 



There are about 13 species of Araujia, all with oppo- 

 site Ivs. and whitish or rosy fls. : corolla-tube short or 

 long, inflated at the base; lobes 5, very wide or narrow, 

 overlapping toward the right in the bud; crown with 



