WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

The sprawling stems of this 18-inch tall, mounding plant spread out for up to 3 feet and are covered with rough, hairy leaves. Note the yellow-green flower with a burgundy center star, and the papery envelope around the fruit. The definitive characteristics are the 5-sided fruit sack, and the branching or star-shaped hairs (use lens).

FLOWER: March–November. Yellow, bell-shaped flowers, 1/2–3/4-inch wide, hang downward on a long flower stem twice as long as the flower. Each of the 5 united petals has a dark spot, or eye, at the base, and yellow anthers. A green maturing yellow, 1/2-inch diameter (12 mm) berry forms in a papery sack that has 5 angles or ribs formed by the bracts.

LEAVES: Alternate, sometimes crowded at nodes. Blades oval, 1–3-inch long (25–75 mm); margins entire or toothed, sometimes wavy; surfaces rough from a covering with minute, star-shaped hairs, visible with a hand lens.

HABITAT: Loamy, sandy soils in fields, roadsides, disturbed areas; prairies and plains.

ELEVATION: 4,000–7,000 feet.

RANGE:OK, LA, NM, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: About 10 species of groundcherries in NM, some are difficult to distinguish in the field. The widespread Ivyleaf Groundcherry, P. hederifolia, has flowers with purple centers, yellow anthers, and a 10-ribbed fruit capsule. Cutleaf Groundcherry, P. angulata, in central NM, is erect and hairless with purple anthers, solid yellow petals or with indistinct spots, a purple-streaked fruit capsule, and leaves with sharp-pointed lobes.

NM COUNTIES: Eastern NM in low- to mid-elevation, dry habitats: Chaves, Dona Ana, Eddy, Harding, Lea, Quay, Roosevelt.