the.com/physalis
the fruit that builds its own paper lantern before anyone invented dim lighting
means A genus of plants in the nightshade family whose small round fruits ripen inside a papery, balloon-like husk — including the Cape gooseberry and tomatillo.
from From the Greek 'physallis,' meaning a bladder or bubble, itself from 'physa,' a puff of air or breath — the same root behind words about blowing and inflation. The botanists who named it were looking straight at that inflated husk and saw a little blown bladder, swelling up around its fruit.
- papery cage
- husk is an inflated calyx, not packaging
- family ties
- cousin of tomatoes, potatoes, and tobacco
- tomatillo kin
- same genus powers your salsa verde
- vitamin punch
- loaded with vitamin C and antioxidants
- name origin
- Greek for bladder, after the swollen husk
physalis peruviana — the cape gooseberry species native to the andes, commercially cultivated in colombia and ecuador
physalis philadelphica — the tomatillo species used in mexican salsa verde, grown across mexico and the southwestern us
physalis alkekengi — the ground cherry species native to asia, now cultivated in europe and north america for its ornamental lantern-like calyx