General: Yellow Nightshade Groundcherry (Physalis crassifolia) is a mounded, perennial forb that grows to about 18-inches tall. The leaves are thick, rounded, and covered with short, simple, glandular hairs. The flowers are nodding (not upright), held on a long pedicel (longer than the flower). The flowers are yellow and bell-shaped with fused petals. Anthers are yellow. The fruits are small, tomato-like berries held inside a papery bag (like a Chinese lantern).

Yellow Nightshade Groundcherry is fairly common the the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone, especially along washes.

Family: Nightshade (Solanaceae).

Other Names:

Plant Form: Mounded subshrub from a rhizome.

Height: To about 18 inches.

Stems: branched, mounded, rigid.

Leaves: To about 1-1/2 inches, rounded. Covered with dense, short, glandular hairs.

Flowers: Blooms in spring to early summer. Inflorescence: solitary. Petals yellow, fused, about 1/2-inch across. Yellow anthers stand out from the petals.

Fruit: Small tomato held inside a papery sack.

Habitat: Lower desert, especially along washes.

Elevation: To about 4,000 feet.

Distribution: California to Utah and Arizona.