132 



SOLANACEAE. 



[Vol.. III. 



17. Physalis viscosa L,. Stellate Ground- 

 Cherry. (Fig. 3206.) 



Physalis viscosa I,. Sp. PI. 183. 1753. 



Physalis Pennsylvanica L. Sp. PI. Ed. 2, 1670. 1763. 



Perennial from a slender creeping rootstock ; stems 

 slender, creeping, with a dense ashy stellate pubes- 

 cence, or in age rarely glabrate. Leaves elliptic, 

 oval or ovate, obtuse, thinish, entire or undulate, 

 in the typical South American form often cordate at 

 the base, but rarely so in our plant; peduncles yi'- 

 1/ long; calyx stellate-pubescent, its lobes triangular, 

 generally shorter than the tube; corolla greenish yel- 

 low with a darker center, 8 // -io // in diameter; fruit- 

 ing calyx io // -I5 // long, round-ovoid, scarcely 

 sunken at the base; berry orange or yellow. 



On sea beaches, or in sand near the coast, Virginia 

 (?); North Carolina to the Argentine Republic. 



Physalis Alkekengi L-, Strawberry Tomato, Winter Cherry, is a native of Europe and Asia, often 

 cultivated for its fruit and sometimes escaped from cultivation. The flowers are whitish, limb 

 more distinctly 5-lobed; leaves broadly deltoid, acute at both ends, repand or angulately toothed. 



3. QUINCULA Raf. Atl. Journ. 145. 1832. 



A low and diffuse somewhat scurfy herb, with a stout perennial root. Leaves from sinu- 

 ate to pinnatifid, somewhat fleshy. Peduncles most commonly in pairs from the axils of the 

 leaves, sometimes solitary, or in fascicles of 3-5. Calyx campanulate, 5-toothed, in fruit in- 

 flated, sharply 5-angular and reticulate, enclosing the fruit, the lobes connivent. Corolla 

 flat-rotate, pentagonal in outline, veiny, violet or purplish. Anthers opening by a longitud- 

 inal slit. Seeds comparatively few, kidney-shaped, somewhat flattened, with thick margins, 

 rugose-tuberculate. [Name unexplained.] 



A monotypic genus of central North America. 



i. Quincula lobata (Torr.) Raf. Purple- 

 flowered Ground-Cherry. (Fig. 3207.) 



Physalis lobata Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 2: 226. 1827. 

 Quinctila lobata Raf. Atl. Journ. 145. 1832. 



Perennial, low, spreading or prostrate, more or 

 less scurfy-puberulent; stem obtusely angled and 

 striate, much branched. Leaves oblanceolate or 

 spatulate to oblong, sinuately toothed, or pinnatifid 

 with rounded lobes, or rarely subentire, cuneate at 

 the base, thickish and veiny, tapering into margin- 

 ed petioles; peduncles \'-i' long, in fruit reflexed; 

 calyx-lobes triangular, acute, shorter than the tube; 

 corolla purplish, \o"-\$" in diameter; anthers yel- 

 low, tinged with purple; fruiting calyx about as 

 wide as long, sharply 5-angled, sunken at the base. 



On high plains, Kansas to California and Mexico. 

 May-Sept. 



4. LEUCOPKYSALIS Rydberg, Mem. Torr. Club, 4: 365. 1896. 



A tall erect viscid and villous annual, with entire leaves, the blade decurrent on the 

 petiole. Peduncles generally in fascicles of 2-4 in the axils. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed, 

 at first a little inflated, but soon filled by and closely fitted to the berry, thin, neither an- 

 gled nor ribbed, faintly veiny, open at the mouth, the lobes exceeding the fruit. Corolla 

 rotate, white, sometimes tinged with purple and generally creamy or yellow in the center, 

 the limb plicate. Stamens inserted near the base of the corolla; filaments long and slender; 

 anthers oblong, opening by a longitudinal slit. Style and stigma as in Physalis. Seeds kid- 

 ney-shaped, flattened, punctate. [Greek, white Physalis.'] 



A monotypic genus of northern North America. 



