Sunberry | Native Gooseberry – Physalis minima
Sunberry, Physalis minima, also known as Native Goosberry, Wild Cape Gooseberry and Pygmy Groundcherry, is a small annual, upright bushy shrub, up to 1.5 meters tall. Sunberry is a fruit bearing tropical plant indigenous to Northern Australia and Southeast Asia.
Physalis minima leaves are delicate, soft and smooth, ovate to heart-shaped with smooth or toothed edges, 2.5-12 cm long. The cream to yellowish flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs), solitary, small and star-bell like in shape, 1.2 to 1.4 cm in diameter with 5 petals, pollinated by insects and followed by edible fruits.
The yellowish shiny fruit, a berry, encapsulated in papery cover which becomes straw brown and drops to the ground when the fruit is fully ripe, is a good source; 25mg per 100ml of juice. The calyx is toxic and should not be eaten. The Sunberry has a pleasing cherry-tomato like flavor when fully ripe and many seeds.
Sunberry Fruit
The fruits are lush, mildly astringent and sweet in a pleasant blend. The overall quality of the fruit is good. The fruit is consumed raw on its own or mixed in to fruit salads and in making squash and jam. The raw fruit can also be used as a vegetable.
Sunberry Propagation Methods
Plant Propagation is by seeds that generally germinate within 1-8 weeks. The plant tends to have a weedy character, oftentimes found growing in fields and wasteland sites. Sunberry will do well in most types of moist, well-drained and with some organic matter soils. It can grow in semi-shade or full sun but it is frost tender. Physalis minima are a member of the Solanaceae family the genus Physalis.
Sunberry, Physalis minima
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