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Weed Identification in Christmas Trees

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Smooth groundcherry - Physalis longifolia Nutt. var. subglabrata (Mackenzie and Bush) Cronq.
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Smooth groundcherry plant
Young smooth groundcherry plant.

Life cycle: Erect, branching, rhizomatous perennial.

Leaves: Alternate, egg-, lance- to diamond-shaped with entire to toothed margins and long petioles. Leaves are smooth to slightly hairy.

Stems: Erect, branching, angled, up to 3-foot-tall herbaceous stems that become smooth and semiwoody with age.

Flowers and fruit: Flowers have five yellow to greenish yellow petals with purple centers, fused into a bell shape and found drooping and solitary in branch and leaf axils. Fruit are orange, red or purple, globe-shaped berries surrounded by a green, lantern-shaped, papery bladder. Each fruit contains many flat, circular to kidney-shaped seeds.

Reproduction: Seeds and rhizomes.
Smooth groundcherry leaf Smooth groundcherry seedling Smooth groundcherry flower
Smooth groundcherry leaf. Smooth groundcherry seedling. Smooth groundcherry flower.
The MSU IPM Program maintains this site as an access point to pest management information at MSU. The IPM Program is administered within the Department of Entomology, fueled by research from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, delivered to citizens through MSU Extension, and proud to be a part of Project GREEEN.
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02/07/08