Cape gooseberry / Andean berry

Seeds: 100  / Botanical name: Physalis peruviana

Delicious fruit - protected in a lantern-like covering

The orange-yellow fruits of the Cape gooseberry, encased in parchment-colored lanterns, are a popular accompaniment to sweet desserts, as their slightly tart flavor is similar to that of gooseberries. The fruits can be eaten fresh or, for example, made into a delicious chutney. As a member of the nightshade family, related to the tomato, it is quite easy to cultivate, quickly reaching a height of just over one meter, and the first berries can be harvested after only three to four months. Each plant can produce several hundred berries. Towards the end of the flowering period, the calyx enlarges and forms a thin, parchment-like, dried covering. Within this protective covering rests the spherical berry, whose soft, sweet-tart pulp contains small, whitish, edible seeds. The fruits taste best when they are so ripe that they fall off on their own. Caution: The Cape gooseberry belongs to the nightshade family, and unripe fruits are poisonous.

Natural habitat: The Physalis originates in the Andean region between Venezuela and Chile. Portuguese sailors brought it to South Africa, where it has been cultivated in the Cape region ever since. Today, it is also cultivated in the USA, New Zealand, India, and southern France.