This is a plant that I found last weekend when I did my usual monthly bush care volunteering. It is a plant that I haven’t seen before, so I thought I’d find out a little about it. In the context of where I found this plant, it is a weed and is one that can spread relatively easy if left to its own devices!

The Latin name of cape gooseberry has the following meaning, Physalis comes from the Greek word for bladder, while peruviana means the plant has a connection to Peru-in this case it is native to Peru. Cape gooseberry belongs in the Solonaceae family, along with the likes of tomatoes and potatoes

The main reason why I am writing about this plant is that it is invasive in Australia where I live, and the only time I have seen it is in native bushland where it definitely is a weed! This plant is a weed accross Australia in disturbed coastal sites. While all plants do as they naturally should, a plant found in a bush setting when it shouldn’t be means that someone somewhere has not been practicing good gardening, by allowing this species to escape from the garden. Carrying out good gardening practices will help prevent this.

Cape gooseberry grows to about 1 metre tall. It’s leaves appear in pairs up the stem-they have an ovate shape with a margin that is entire to shallowly toothed (see the picture above), and can reach 6 cm long by 4 cm wide. Flowers are yellow with purple-brown spots that appear between the anthers. The fruit is a berry that is enclosed within the papery calyx that inflates and hangs down. The fruit is edible and is rich in nutrients, although the fruit is toxic when unripe, so you need to be careful! The flowers appear in summer. It prefers full sun to part shade, and a loam to sandy loam soil that is slightly acidic.

• The photos are my own
• https://www.plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au
• PictureThis iPhone app