Physalis peruviana
Common name
Cape gooseberry
Family
Solanaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
PHYPER
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Features
Herb, grows 15-200 cm tall, densely hairy. Flowers pale yellow with patches of pale purple towards base, January-December. Fruit 10-20 mm diameter orange, sweet and enclosed in a lantern-like persistent calyx. (DoC 1998)
Flowering
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Flower colours
Violet/Purple, Yellow
Year naturalised
1843
Origin
Tropical S. America
Reason For Introduction
Agricultural
Dispersal
Animals eat & disperse seeds (Webb et al., 1988). Birds (Colin Ogle, pers. comm.).