Winter cherry
Encyclopedia
Winter cherry may refer to following plants, which are all Solanaceae
, unrelated to actual cherries (which are Rosaceae
), and do not have edible fruit (some are actually poisonous):
Solanaceae
Solanaceae are a family of flowering plants that include a number of important agricultural crops as well as many toxic plants. The name of the family comes from the Latin Solanum "the nightshade plant", but the further etymology of that word is unclear...
, unrelated to actual cherries (which are Rosaceae
Rosaceae
Rosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...
), and do not have edible fruit (some are actually poisonous):
- Physalis alkekengiPhysalis alkekengiPhysalis alkekengi , is a relative of P. peruviana , easily identifiable by the larger, bright orange to red papery covering over its fruit, which resemble Chinese lanterns. It is native from southern Europe east across southern Asia to Japan...
(Chinese Lantern) - other species of PhysalisPhysalisPhysalis is a genus of plants in the nightshade family , native to warm temperate and subtropical regions throughout the world. The genus is characterised by the small orange fruit similar in size, shape and structure to a small tomato, but partly or fully enclosed in a large papery husk derived...
- Solanum pseudocapsicum (Jerusalem Cherry), especially under its synonymSynonymSynonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
S. capsicastrum ("False Jerusalem Cherry") - Withania somnifera (Ashwaganda)