# Chinese Lantern?



## PETSNEGGS

I have a green leaf plant growning in may places in the yard. It just sprouts up. So far some have gotten about 3 feet tall. It has a little pale yellow flower and then gets these green paper like lanterns hanging off of it. None of them have turned orange ( as of yet) and it is more of a soft stemmed plant. What could it be? :shrug:


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## EDDIE BUCK

PETSNEGGS said:


> I have a green leaf plant growning in may places in the yard. It just sprouts up. So far some have gotten about 3 feet tall. It has a little pale yellow flower and then gets these green paper like lanterns hanging off of it. None of them have turned orange ( as of yet) and it is more of a soft stemmed plant. What could it be? :shrug:


 I hope someone knows because I have them in my peanut rows, but every thing I can find on the web will be something different like, leaves, or stem,plant height or the wrong color lanterns or the wrong color fruit inside lantern. Hopefully someone knows and will share. :shrug:


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## marvella

ground cherries. i love 'em!!

the fruit is different colors because there are differnt varieities in different places. they are in the tomato family. if you eat them under ripe they even taste like tomatoes.

here the flower is yellow with purple in the center. really pretty! they are ripe when the lantern is completely dry and the fruit is a rich yellow. they taste like pineapple! and apparently keep forever. i left them on the counter just to see what they would do, and they stayed good, just a tad shriveled. got some in a freezer bag but haven't tried those yet.

i took some to work and people had a fit over them. i could see where they could be an interesting sideline crop.


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## MELOC

i know night shade is in the same family...well, i think i know that. are they comparable? i mean...is there a risk of confusing one for the other?


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## mistletoad

Could be tomatillos (Physalis philadelphica) - very similar to ground cherries (Physalis peruviana) - but larger and turns yellow when over ripe. We have so many volunteer tomatillo plants ever year that I threaten to never plant any more, but we always do because they are soo good - salsa verde - yum!


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## Windy in Kansas

While I also think the plants are probably ground cherries there are trees that also produce paper husk covered fruits. Can't think of the name of it at the moment. Don't know that they are edible at all.


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## EDDIE BUCK

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/physasp.htm


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## woodsy_gardener

There are a number of wild physalis that grow in north Florida and south Alabama and Georgia. 
The Chinese Lantern plant has escaped flower gardens and become a serious weed in south Florida. If it's a CL the papery sacks will turn orange.

Don't let the above link to ncsu.edu scare you. There are 80 species of physalis and none have poisonous ripe berries. The sacks are the most poisinous part of physalis. Over all they are about as poisonous as their relative the tomato plant.


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## PETSNEGGS

I really appreciate all the help. I'm going to have to watch them I guess and see if they get that kind of fruit on them inside the sacks. I do know that my goats and piggies aren't eating the plants. They are just popping up all over. I looked at the pic on the above link though and that plant looked more sturdy. These are sorta a softer looking stem. and the whole plant is green. I'll try to take a pic of it and post it. But if it is ground cherries I am excited. free food... if it is do they transplant well? I would like to move them so I can keep them.


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## Ernie

Make sure it's not velvet weeed. I've got that in spades. It has some very attractive seed pods which kind of look like hanging lanterns. Or a green puckered anus. It's a serious menace.


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## PETSNEGGS

LOL Ernie, I love your description. "puckered anus" I checked everything and all the sites you all have sent me too and it is NOT velvet weed but, I think I do have that in the back. It is in the ground cherry family! I will be looking forward to using them when ripe. Found some yummy sounding recipes on line. My little flowers are more of the pale yellow and they don't have that pretty purple center but, hey I have free food... so cool. I also just found a small amount of ripe muscadine grapes on the property. I don't think there is enough for a batch of jelly but, we will see. Yippee.... thanks everyone.


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