Groundcherry
This is a groundcherry 1 , close relative of the Chinese Lantern plant 2 , both of the Physalis genus 3 in the Solanaceae family 4 5
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And below lots of footnotes…
English sources:
Does anything eat wasps? Edited by Mike O’Hare [book] p.62 Toxic Tatties
www.botany.com
Chinese Lantern picture
physalis.pdf from Flora of China (Harvard.edu)
Chinese sources:
www.hulu.com.tw
- groundcherry (Physalis angulata) 苦蘵 ku3 zhi2 The yellow-orange fruits inside the calyx (the paper balloon around the fruit) can be eaten, though leaves, stem and calyx are toxic. Other Chinese names include lantern grass (灯笼草), divine bubble grass (天泡草), yellow girl (黄姑娘), and “punch forehead bubble” (打额泡, no idea why). American in origin.
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Chinese lantern (Physalis alkekengi) 挂金灯 Literally “hanging golden lamp.” Native to China, and used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat swollen throat, parotitis (mumps), tracheitis (inflammation and infection of the trachea), dysentery, urinary problems, and used externally on pustulating sores. - Physalis 酸浆属 suan1 jiang1 shu3 This is the genus (属). Of the more than 70 species of Physalis, most are found in the Americas though China has five native varieties of P. alkekengi.
- Solanaceae 茄科 This is the nightshade family, which include potatoes, aubergines, mandrake, peppers, tobacco, tomato, and of course nightshade. The Solanaceae are known for having a wide range of alkaloids, which for humans can be either a good thing, or toxic, or both. One of these alkaloids is solanine produced by potatoes – a toxin that does not dissolve in water and cannot be killed by cooking. Green patches on potatoes tell you that it has started to produce solanine, though the green itself is actually harmless chlorophyll created when the potato is exposed to light. The solanine is a natural protection to stop the tuber being eaten by foraging animals, potatoes with hazardous levels taste bitter. Ingesting high doses of solanine causes delirium, hallucinations and paralysis, though you’d have to eat several kilos of potatoes before receiving a fatal dose. It is said that if the potato was introduced to Europe today, instead of in the 16th century, the European Union would have banned it for failing safety checks under the Novel Foods Regulation. The nicotine in tobacco is the same type of glycoalkaloid as tobacco, but the high temperature of combustion modifies its toxic effect, hence eating a cigarette is far more toxic than smoking one. Note that 茄 can be pronounced either “jiā ” (as in “cigar”) or qié (as in aubergine/eggplant).
- Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) 灯笼果 deng long guo Cultivated in Guangdong and Yunnan province for its edible fruit, originally native to South America (in the 18th Century, the fruits were perfumed and worn for adornment by native women in Peru). This is the one you can buy in Western supermarkets. It was grown by early settlers of the Cape of Good Hope before 1807, hence its common English name. Unripe fruits are poisonous.
