Calliphysalis
{{Short description|Species of edible flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Carpenter's groundcherry
| image = Calliphysalis carpenter.jpg
| genus = Calliphysalis
| parent_authority = Whitson
| species = carpenteri
| authority = (Riddell) Whitson
| synonyms = * Physalis carpenteri Riddell
}}
Calliphysalis is a monotypic genus of perennial plants in the Physaleae tribe of the nightshade family Solanaceae.Per Axel Rydberg. 1896. The North American species of Physalis and related genera. Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club 4: 297-374; 330, citing Riddell, John L. 1853. New and hitherto unpublished plants of the Southwest, mostly indigenous in Louisiana. New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal 9:609-618. Calliphysalis carpenteri, known as Carpenter's groundcherry is the only recognized member of the genus. C. carpenteri is native to sandy soils on the coastal plain regions of south-eastern North America from northern Florida to Louisiana and Arkansas,{{Cite web |title=Physalis carpenteri Carpenter's groundcherry PFAF Plant Database |url=https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Physalis+carpenteri |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=pfaf.org}}{{Cite web |title=USDA Plants Database |url=https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=PHCA16 |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=plants.usda.gov}} it was first described from specimens collected in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.{{Cite web |title=William M. Carpenter : a pioneer scientist of Louisiana / by R.S. Cocks |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044106372303;view=1up;seq=12 |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=HathiTrust |language=en}} Its species name honors the botanical contributions of early Louisiana naturalist William Marbury Carpenter (1811-1848).
Taxonomy
Prior to 2012, this species was known as Physalis carpenteri. At that time it was placed in a new genus, Calliphysalis, based on chromosomal, molecular, morphological, and phylogenetic data that demonstrated its uniqueness.Maggie Whitson. 2012. Calliphysalis (Solanaceae): A New Genus from the Southeastern USA. Rhodora 114(958):133-147, https://doi.org/10.3119/11-10, abstract and partial text at https://www.jstor.org/stable/23314732?seq=1/analyze; "The story of Physalis carpenteri begins with John Leonard Riddell, a medical doctor, inventor, and botanist best known for work in the western US and Ohio. Spending the latter part of his career in New Orleans, he began work on a flora of Louisiana. His colleague, William Marbury Carpenter, collected many specimens used for the project. Both men were professors at what would become Tulane University."
Among the physalid species, Carpenter's groundcherry is believed to be most closely related to Alkekengi officinarum (formerly Physalis alkekengi).{{Cite journal |last1=Whitson |first1=Maggie |last2=Manos |first2=Paul S. |date=2005 |title=Untangling Physalis (Solanaceae) from the Physaloids: A Two-Gene Phylogeny of the Physalinae |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25064051 |journal=Systematic Botany |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=216–230 |doi=10.1600/0363644053661841 |jstor=25064051 |bibcode=2005SysBo..30..216W |s2cid=86411770 |issn=0363-6445|url-access=subscription }}
Uses
The Plants for a Future project notes that Calliphysalis carpenteri belongs to a genus (referring to Physalis, where it was formerly placed), which includes members with poisonous leaves and stems, although the fully ripe fruits are usually edible, and give it an Edibility Rating of 2 out of 5, with no medicinal value or other uses noted.
References
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{{Taxonbar|from1=Q13423684|from2=Q1027314}}
Category:Plants described in 1896
Category:Monotypic Solanaceae genera
{{Solanales-stub}}