Clammy Ground Cherry is a native perennial forb growing 1 to 2-1/2 feet high on stems where the upper part is covered with dense soft hair. Stems branch frequently, are erect initially but when later in fruit are generally decumbent.

The leaves are large, broadly ovate, with a pointed tip and a rounded to heart-shaped base leading to a stalk. The margins have irregular wavy teeth or may be entire. Both surfaces are densely hairy with fine white hair, some of which may be glandular.

The inflorescence consists of solitary stalked pendant flowers that rise from the junction of two divergent stems.

Flowers: The green calyx and flower stalk is glandular-hairy; the calyx has 5 triangular lobes. The corolla is funnel shaped, greenish-yellow with 5 shallow lobes that are widest in the middle and taper to an abrupt tip. Inside the corolla there is a brownish to purplish spotted area in the center of each lobe. The five stamens have purple filaments with yellow-ish purple anthers which form around the central ovary and obscure the style.

Seed: Fertile flowers form an inflated hairy husk from the calyx; it is slightly longer than wide, that contains a single 1/3 to 1/2 inch diameter round berry, green initially, turning yellow at maturity and containing a number of seeds. The husk is closed at the tip and turns brown at maturity.

Habitat: Clammy Ground Cherry grows in dry areas, prairies, woods, in rich to disturbed soils. Full sun to partial sun with moderate moisture. The plants have flowers, buds forming, husks and maturing berries all at the same time. It grows from a rhizomatous root system and can spread vegetatively to form colonies.

Names: The genus Physalis is derived from the Greek word physa, meaning 'a bladder' and referring to the inflated calyx at seed time. The species heterophylla (and the variety name) is a compound word from the Greek with hetero signifying 'diverse' or 'varies' and phylla for 'leaves', thus 'varied leaves'. The common name of 'clammy' refers to the touch of the downy leaves. More notes on the species at bottom of the page.

The author name for the plant classification, ‘Nees’ is for Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (1778-1858) German botanist who described around 7000 plant species, authored a number of monographs and was a Professor at Erlangen, Bonn and Breslau.

Comparisons: While this species is the most frequently found, there are two others that are only slightly different. P. virginiana the Virginia Ground Cherry, has more lance-like leaves that can be hairy but not as densely so as P. heterophylla. P. longifolia, the Long-leaf Ground Cherry has lance-like leaves that are mostly hairless, as is the stem and the calyx. The flowers have the same structure and color.