Clammy Groundcherry (Massachusetts Ecotype)

Physalis heterophylla

Origin: Holyoke, Mass.

Improvement status: Cultivated wild material

Seeds per packet: ~30

Germination tested 12/25: 60% (likely higher under more ideal, longer conditions)

Life cycle: Perennial

Clammy groundcherry is a native perennial ground cherry with good size, moderate productivity, and outstanding flavor which adds golden raisin notes to the already delicious pineapple-like groundcherry baseline. It gets is name from the slightly sticky hairs all over the plant. This ecotype does not have particularly large fruit for the species (some are quite a bit larger), but they still compare well with the average annual groundcherry in terms of fruit-size. This form was wild-collected by our friend Eric Toensmeier (author of Perennial Vegetables and The Carbon Farming Solution) some two decades ago in the vicinity of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and has been grown in gardens ever since. The fruit ripens in September to October in Massachusetts, and can remain tasty on the plant, on the ground, or on your kitchen counter for weeks or months after that. To clean the dried husk off the slightly sticky fruit, just wash in the sink and the paper comes right off.

When I (this is Nate) visited Eric’s farm in late 2025 and sampled the fruit, I more or less insisted that Eric harvest as much as he could so we could offer seed — and here it is! (Thanks Eric!!) I've only tasted Physalis heterophylla from a couple other places, and never with enough of a population to offer the seeds for sale, but to me it's the best-tasting of all the ground cherries — far superior to the still tasty commercial "cape gooseberries"/"goldenberries" from South America (where they're called "uvilla").

Native to most of the US, from Montana and Arizona to Florida and Maine, and much of southern Canada as well, this species will thrive most anywhere. It's often found as a weed in gardens, at the edge of forests, and in old field successional habitats. It spreads both by seed and by deep underground suckers. It is also very long-lived, persisting for decades, so be thoughtful where you plant it. It's been known to hybridize with other species, and we think it has great potential as a parent plant to help breed much more productive perennial groundcherries for the future.

Eric says it seems to be attractive to pollinators, and like other species with low-growing yellow fruits (including horse nettle and my beloved mayapples) is specialized to be dispersed by box turtles!

GROWING TIPS: Seeds germinate best when surface-sown and kept warm and moist. They have somewhat spotty germination, some popping quickly and others taking their sweet time. Suited to ordinary garden soils and also to dry sand. Can host pests and diseases of the tomato family as well as striped cucumber beetle.