Cutleaf groundcherry

Tầm bóp (Physalis angulata L.), also called cutleaf groundcherry, wild gooseberry, tomato weed or cut-leaved ground cherry, is an annual herb of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), 0.3–1 m tall, growing wild on waste ground, roadsides, field margins and gardens across the tropics. The erect, faintly ribbed stem bears alternate, ovate leaves with shallowly toothed margins. Solitary flowers arise in the leaf axils; the five-angled bell-shaped corolla is cream to pale yellow with five dark reddish-brown spots at the base, opening in the morning. Its most distinctive feature is the persistent calyx that inflates into a papery lantern around the fruit; the globose berry, 1–1.5 cm across, ripens saffron-yellow to orange and is mildly sweet and edible.

Updated by lebachungtdh@gmail.com · 10/10/2026

In the tropics it flowers and fruits almost year-round. Probably native to tropical America, the species has spread across the humid tropics and subtropics — including Vietnam, China (苦蘵), Japan, Africa, India and Oceania. In Vietnam the young shoots and leaves are gathered as a boiled green or soup vegetable (sometimes called 'rau lu lu cái'); the ripe berries are eaten fresh or made into jam; the whole plant, rich in withanolides and physalins, is used in folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory, febrifuge and diuretic. It should not be confused with the black nightshade (Solanum nigrum), also called 'tầm bóp' in some regions but a different species of the nightshade genus.

Updated by lebachungtdh@gmail.com · 10/10/2026