Groundcherries or Ground Cherries? 

I’m savoring a fist-full of blueberries when my eyes catch side of the yellow-white, dried husks of groundcherries on the earth beneath their densely canopied plants. Ripe! I picked another batch of blueberries to eat en route to the sun ripened treats tucked in between nasturtium flowers. Sauntering and savoring the pallet popping blueberry perfection, I asked myself, “Is it ground cherries or ground cherries?”

I don’t actually know. Since iPhones aren’t *just* cameras I queried the interwebs. It’s worth noting that standing in late afternoon sunshine on the first sub-80°, low humidity day in a couple of weeks while husking perfectly ripe ground cherries and popping them into my mouth while backfilling my knowledge of a garden favorite we’ve cultivated for years was / is transcendent. Not hyperbole.

So what did I learn?

These delicious fruit that I love (and Susan deeply dislikes) are known as both groundcherries AND ground cherries. Better yet, they’re referred to by all sorts of names including physalis, husk cherries, husk tomatoes, strawberry tomato, and golden berries. Chasing down the accuracy of some of these names, get into some of the linguistic overlaps and confusion around this fruit, so I won’t get into that. Let’s just get onto the important stuff so that you can backfill your own knowledge of ground cherries.

Physalis peruviana is a species of plant in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) native to Chile and Peru.Within that region, it is called aguaymanto, uvilla or uchuva, in addition to numerous indigenous and regional names. In English, its common names include Cape gooseberry, goldenberry and Peruvian groundcherry (Source: Wikipedia)

Although I’ve had a good fortune of living and traveling in Chile and Peru, I did not know that these sweet delicacies were from these Cordillera countries.

Ground cherry plants look like small, sprawling shrubs with bright green leaves and toothed edges. They sport yellow flowers in the summer before bearing fruit in the late summer to early fall wrapped in a papery husk, much like their relative, the tomatillo. (Source: The Spruce)

In fact, I often make the mistake of grouping ground cherries with tomatillos when planning the garden, organizing with Pam, Teddi, and others who have helped us in the garden over the years. I resolve to tuneup my Solanaceae lexicon ASAP.

Ground cherries (Physalis pruinosa), also called cape gooseberries, are a fruit native to the Americas. They’re in the same botanical family as their more-popular cousins tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and tomatillos. Though some members of this plant family are poisonous (hello, nightshade and mandrake, we’re talking to you!), the fruits of ground cherries are decidedly not. In fact, the ground cherry is a very nutritious fruit, filled with Vitamins A and C, beta-carotene, potassium, and many other nutrients.

Just like their tomatillo kin, with whom the ground cherry shares a genus, each ground cherry fruit is covered in a thin, papery sheath. The fruits measure one-half to three-quarters of an inch across, and their taste is a subtly sweet mixture of tomato and pineapple. Their flavor is best when the fruits are fully ripe. You’ll know they’re ripe when you peel back the papery sheath and the fruit beneath it is a soft orange color. Ground cherries fall from the plants just before they’re fully ripe. All you have to do is collect the husk-covered fruits off the ground for the perfect harvest.

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Fresh, ripe ground cherries are difficult to resist, and many times the fruits don’t even make it into the kitchen. To enjoy them fresh, simply push the fruit out of its husk and pop it into your mouth. If you have a lot of ground cherries, there are also many wonderful ways you can cook with them. (Source: Cherry Valley Organics)

If you’ve never eaten ground cherries, please accept my recommendation. They’re delicious, slightly exotic additions when entertaining, and quite easy to grow. You can thank me later.