EPPO Global Database

• EPPO code: PHYAL
• Preferred name: Physalis alkekengi
• Authority: Linnaeus

Asia (but replaced in Japan by var. franchetii, q.v.) to Europe. The native range appears obscure since the species seems most probably to be an archaeophyte in Europe (i.e. introduced and cultivated in ancient times), naturalized but now tending to disappear. Cultivated as a medicinal plant and ornamental in China.

In Europe, P. alkekengi is still cultivated as an ornamental, and occasionally naturalized as a result. Any fruit production in Europe is based on non-European Physalis spp. The English common name "Cape gooseberry" is in fact not appropriate for P. alkekengi, since it recalls the production of fruits of non-native Physalis spp. in South Africa, for export.