250 LUTHER BURBANK 



plant known as the Ground Cherry, sometimes 

 called Husk Tomato or Strawberry Tomato. 



The Interesting Ground Cherry 



One of the little plants in question belongs to 

 the genus Physalis, and it has numerous close 

 relatives that inhabit various parts of the world. 

 The Strawberry Tomato has been under cultiva- 

 tion for a long time. The fruit is small, yellow, 

 sweetish, and insipid. Other species have been 

 received from Japan, and Korea, and South 

 America. 



In general the fruit of some of these plants, 

 especially P. Philadelphica, appears to be a 

 curious misfit, the husk not being large enough 

 to contain the fruit when ripe, and thus splitting 

 open, exposes the fruit itself — a case where 

 selection and culture have enlarged the fruit and 

 not the envelope. 



I have attempted through cultivation and 

 selection to remedy this fault; and I have also 

 crossed the various ground cherries. 



These hybridizing experiments not only were 

 made with the common species and the foreign 

 ones already mentioned, but also with other 

 species from the west coast of Mexico, Arizona, 

 South America, and Texas. But hitherto I have 

 been unable to secure any striking results. 



