Daily drawing: Physalis

Physalis

   A glossy orange fruit with similar size, shape and structure to a small cherry tomato and contained in a papery shell that looks a bit like a Chinese lamp. An associate of the nightshade relations, it is mainly grown in Colombia and South Africa.

   PHYSALIS FRUIT

   It is hardy to zone 8 and is frost tender. It flowers from July to October, and the fruits ripen from August to November. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, wind.

   Appearance- The Physalis fruit is closely related to the tomato varieties in appearance. The plant is an annual with a much branched, spreading form, and a rank, feeble looking appearance. It grows to 3-6 ft in height and falls over the land and sprawls on the ground if not given support. The flowers are yellow in color with purple markings and yield to the Physalis fruit which is technically a berry, as the tomato fruit. The fruit expands inside a green and purple bladder-like calyx that looks like a small Chinese lantern hanging from the stem. It looks much like a small green tomato, 1-3 in diameter, but the Physalis has a drier texture and a distinctive flavor unlike tomato.

   Taste- The Chinese lantern plant, the Physalis fruit is also called the winter cherry or bladder cherry; and is a member of the potato family. Usually the fruit ripens around the month of Halloween, the Chinese lantern plant is used commonly for decorative purposes and also cropped for its fruit. The fruit contains twice the amount of Vitamin C as that in lemons and looks like a blonde-red cherry tomato with a sweeter taste relative to the tomatillo.

PHYSALIS PLANT

   The plant favors like light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, it requires well-drained soil to grow and it can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Plants are usually small, only 1-3ft in height. The plant favors acid, neutral and alkaline soils and it can grow in very acid and very alkaline soils as well. It can grow in semi-shade or no shadow.

   Plants are aggressive and best kept out of the permanent border fruit. Also can be grown in tubs. Small white flowers appear in midsummer and it has both male and female organs. Shells are green in color at first, but it should be harvested when the color changes to orange from green, the leaves naked then stems hung upside down to dry in a warm dark room. The plant flowers blooms from July to October and its seeds are ripening from the month of August to November.

   The plant is an annual with a much branched but weak looking appearance. It is a climber and hence falls flat on the ground if there is no support for it to climb. These plants have a very attractive appearance which looks likes jug and another specialty of this fruit is it doesn’t change its color even if it’s cut.