This giant cultivated form of Physalis peruviana is native to Brazil but long ago became naturalized in the highlands of Peru and Chile and became identified with the region. Best grown as an annual crop in the UK sown in Feb/Mar but it is perennial by nature and not frost tolerant. Plants grow 2 to 3ft with bell-shaped, nodding yellow flowers forming in the leaf axils. After the flower falls, the calyx expands, forming a straw-coloured husk surrounding the fruit, which take 70 to 80 days to mature. The tangy, tasty fruit is a berry with smooth, waxy, orange-yellow skin and juicy pulp containing numerous very small yellowish seeds. The plants need regular watering, in a well drained soil in a hot sunny position planted outside in June, or pot grown in the greenhouse. Do not fertilise as they do best in poor soil. The tasty fruit is often dipped in melted chocolate as a special treat!
