Physalis longifolia var. longifolia   longleaf ground-cherry
           
Solanaceae
non-native                      herbaceous           
Distribution: Greenbelt

UW Burke Herbarium Link: Physalis longifolia var. longifolia
USDA Plants Link: Physalis longifolia var. longifolia   (PHLOL3)


Longleaf ground-cherry (Physalis longifolia), a wild relative of cultivated Japanese-lantern and tomatillo, is sporadically established in moist flats in South Boise and the Greenbelt.  Both of the two recognized varieties, neither native, are present locally but not strongly differentiated.  Most populations (e.g., Hubbard Reservoir, Eagle Island State Park) are probably var. subglabrata, which tends to be taller with somewhat broader leaves; it is native to forested portions of the eastern US.  However, at least one population, from a periodically mowed area along the Greenbelt at the north end of the Warm Springs golf course, clearly represents the narrower-leaved var. longifolia, native to the Great Plains.