Calliphysalis Explained

Calliphysalis is a genus of perennial plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae.^[1] It is monotypic, being represented by the single species Calliphysalis carpenteri, commonly known as Carpenter's groundcherry. Calliphysalis carpenteri is native to sandy soils on the coastal plain regions of south-eastern North America from northern Florida to Louisiana and Arkansas,^{[2] [3]} it was first described from specimens collected in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.^[4] Its species name honors the botanical contributions of early Louisiana naturalist William Marbury Carpenter (1811-1848).^{[1] [4]}

Taxonomy

Prior to 2012, this species was known as Physalis carpenteri. At that time it was placed in a new, monotypic genus, Calliphysalis, based on chromosomal, molecular, morphological, and phylogenetic data that demonstrated its uniqueness.^[5]

Among species in Physalis and related genera, Carpenter's groundcherry is believed to be most closely related to Alkekengi officinarum (formerly Physalis alkekengi).^[6]

Uses

The Plants for a Future project notes that Calliphysalis carpenteri belongs to a genus 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.^[2]

Notes and References

1. 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 New and hitherto unpublished plants of the Southwest, mostly indigenous in Louisiana.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.
2. PFAF Plant Database: Physalis carpenteri Carpenter's groundcherry, https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Physalis+carpenteri, last accessed 2 Dec 2018.
3. [USDA]
4. Reginald S. Cocks: "William M. Carpenter, A Pioneer Scientist of Louisiana" in Tulane Graduates' Magazine, Vol. 3, January 1914, pp. 122-127, reprinted in February 1914 by the author as a booklet published by Tulane University Press under the same title, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044106372303;view=1up;seq=12, last accessed 1 Dec 2018.
5. 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."
6. Whitson . Maggie . Manos . Paul S. . 2005 . Untangling Physalis (Solanaceae) from the Physaloids: A Two-Gene Phylogeny of the Physalinae . Systematic Botany . 30 . 1 . 216–230 . 10.1600/0363644053661841 . 25064051 . 86411770 . 0363-6445.