Let us evaluate our Physalis species

[Gurcharan Singh]

Let us evaluate Physalis in India. Another genus in which species names have undergone considerable changes. Only two species were described in Flora of British India: Wild Physalis minima (and its one var. indica) and cultivated P. peruviana. As understood now, there are atleast four wild species and 2-3 found in cultivation. These can be separated as under:
1. Plants perennial, mostly cultivated, plants villous to pubescent......2
1. Plants annual, mostly wild...............................................................3
2. Fruiting calyx orange to red, corolla white
   with greenish to yellowish spots, leaf base cuneate,
   oblique, berry orange red.............................P. alkekengi (Chinese Lantern)
2. Fruiting calyx green, corolla yellow with purple blotches
   at base, leaf base cordate, berry yellow to orange..... P. peruviana (Cape              gooseberry)
3. Fruiting pedicel 3-8 mm long........................................................4
3. Fruiting pedicel longer than 10 mm..............................................5
4. Corolla less than 6 mm in diam, yellow with purple blotches, anthers
   yellow, less than 2 mm long, fruiting calyx green, subglobose, less than 2 cm        long....................................................................................... P. lagascae
4. Corolla more than 1 cm in diam., yellow with purple blotches,
   anthers bluish-purple, 2-3 mm long, fruiting calyx green, ovoid, 2-3 cm long,        berry usually green........................................... P. philadelphica (tomatillo)
5. Plants sparsely hairy to glabrescent, without glandular hairs; fruiting calyx
   ovoid, longer than broad, gradually narrowed at tip, with purple network of            veins.......................................................................................... P. angulata
5. Plants densely hairy mixed with glandular hairs.............................6
6. Stems and leaves villous mixed with sessile glands, leaves prominently              dentate from base, corolla with brown spots, anthers purple, fruiting calyx as      long as broad, abruptly acuminate at apex, berry orange when                             mature........................................................................................ P. grisea
6. Stems and leaves villous mixed with stalked glands, leaves light green,                 prominently dentate from middle, corolla with pale green spots, anthers               yellow, fruiting calyx longer than broad, gradually acuminate at apex, berry         grey green when mature.............................................................P. pruinosa

There are at least two species the members are requested to focus, Physalis joe-diasii, described by Santapau from Maharashtra, which may turn out to be P. angulata, TPL considers it unresolved name, whereas Kew Database a synonym of Physalis halicacabum Crantz. Another species P. lagascae is reported by Raju et al. in Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 45 (2): 239–245(2007) from Andhra Pradesh, Khammam district, Achuthapuram: 1999-02-14;C. S. Reddy 1331 (KUH); Warangal district, Hanamkonda: 2006-08-02, V. S. Raju 5005 (KUH), the image of fruit also matches description, but no mention corolla patches. There seems to be no other credible image in online databases in India, even uploads on Indian Flora (Facebook) and Flowers of India point to P. pruinosa. Let us all try to locate true P. lagascae in India (images in my collage are taken from "Useful Tropical Plants" images by Ken Fern. http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Physalis+lagascae
1. P. angulata: Wazirabad, Delhi, August 30, 2009
2. P. lagascae: "Useful Tropical Plants" images by Ken Fern
3. P. grisea: Tikkar Tal Lake, Morni, Haryana, April 10, 2011
4. P. pruinosa: Morni, Haryana, April 10, 2011, Flower image from Flowers of India
5. P. peruviana: Tiger Fall Road, Chakrata, September 18, 2011
6. P. philadelphica (syn: P. ixocarpa): Sunnyvale, California, May 31, 2014
7. P. alkakengi: Fremont, California, 10 October, 2017, flower picture from NatureGate http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/bladder-cherry, eFlora of Pakistan reports it from Kashmir from 1200-1800 m altitude, also cultivated let us find it.

     Perhaps a good project for our Young Researchers. This Paper should be good for further exploration

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258912061_The_myth_of_minima_and_maxima_the_species_of_Physalis_in_the_Indian_subcontinent  


 
 

Dr. Gurcharan Singh

Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Mob: 9810359089

https://sing96.wixsite.com/mysite-1

Overwhelmed by the positive response to the shareable 30% off discount, we have extended the deadline. Use Code - ADS19 - now until December 31, 2019 !

[J.M. Garg]

Thanks, Singh ji, for wonderful details and keys.

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[Saroj Kasaju]

Thank you Gurucharan Sir!

Saroj Kasaju

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[Dinesh Valke]

Thank you very much, Gurcharan ji, for these keys.

Regards.

Dinesh

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[J.M. Garg]

Hi, Singh ji,

Regarding 'Physalis joe-diasii, described by Santapau from Maharashtra, which may turn out to be P. angulata', myself and Rakesh ji had similar views after examining all the postings in efi site.

On Fri, 27 Dec 2019 at 10:49, Gurcharan Singh <sing...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Gurcharan Singh]

Thanks Garg ji

Dr. Gurcharan Singh

Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Mob: 9810359089

https://sing96.wixsite.com/mysite-1

[Mandru Ramesh Chowdary]

thank you 
Gurcharan sir