FoI
Indian Ground Cherry
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Indian Ground Cherry
ative Photo: Dinesh Valke
Common name: Indian Ground Cherry • Bengali: Bantepariya • Gujarati: पोपटी Popti • Hindi: रसभरी Rasbhari, Ban Tipariya, Chirpati • Kannada: ಗಡ್ಡೆಹಣ್ಣು Gadde hannu, ಸಣ್ಣಬೊಂಡುಲ(ಳ) Sanna bondula ಸಣ್ಣಗುಪ್ಪಟೆ Sanna guppate • Malayalam: Notinott • Manipuri: ꯃꯣꯔꯣꯛ ꯄꯣꯛꯂꯥꯑꯣꯕꯤ Morok poklaobi • Marathi: Chirboti, Nanvachivel, रान पोपटी Ran-popti • Nepali: फोपतेक Phopatek, गोलभेंडे झार Golabhende Jhaar, पटपटे Patapate • Tamil: Kupantia • Telugu: Kupanti
Botanical name: Physalis halicacabum    Family: Solanaceae (Potato family)
Synonyms: Physalis indica, Physalis joe-diasii, Physalis alvarisii

Indian Ground Cherry is a herbacious plant, somewhat similar to Ground Cherry. The main identifying feature is the leaf with dentate margin, deeply U-shaped indentation, with short pointed serration. Flowers are yellow with dark botches in the throat. It is a spreading annual 15-45 cm tall, nearly hairless to velvet-hairy. Leaves are 3-8.5 x 1.5-4 cm, ovate. sinuate, wavy or sinuate-toothed to subentire, pointed or tapering, base heart-shaped to oblique. Leaf-stalks are up to 4 cm long, slender. Flowers arise singly in leaf-axils. Flower-stalks are less than 1 cm long, somewhat elongating in fruit. Sepal-cup is about 2.5 mm long, bell-shaped. inflated, globular-avoid, membranous and up to 2.5 cm in fruit, velvet-hairy. Flowers are 5 mm long, shortly tubular, yellow; petals pointed, velvet-hairy. Stamens subincluded. Anthers about 1 mm long; filaments 2 mm long. Berry is spherical, 1 cm broad, orange. Indian Ground Cherry is found in Afghanistan to India and Central China, including East Himalaya. Flowering: August-October.

Identification credit: Dinesh Valke, Satish Pardeshi Photographed in Maharashtra.

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