Quincula

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Solanales

Familia: Solanaceae
Subfamilia: Solanoideae
Tribus: Physaleae
Subtribus: Physalidinae
Genus: Quincula
Species: Q. lobata
Name

Quincula Raf., Atlantic J. 1: 145. (1832)

monotypic taxon

References

Rafinesque, C.S. 1832. Atlantic Journal, and Friend of Knowledge 1: 145.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Quincula in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Nov. 1. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Quincula. Published online. Accessed: Nov. 1 2020.
Tropicos.org 2020. Quincula. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 1 Nov. 2020.

Quincula is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The sole species it contains, Quincula lobata, is commonly known as Chinese lantern, lobed groundcherry, or purple groundcherry.

This plant is also classified as Physalis lobata in genus Physalis.[2]
Contents

1 Distribution
2 Description
3 References
4 External links

Distribution

It is native to the southwestern United States as far east as Kansas and Oklahoma, as well as northern Mexico, where it grows in many types of open, dry habitat, including disturbed areas.
Description

It is a perennial herb producing ridged, spreading stems up to half a meter long. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 7 centimeters long, smooth or lobed on the edges. The flowers blooming from the leaf axils are up to 2 centimeters wide, widely bell-shaped or flat-faced with five vague, pointed lobes, not drooping like those of many Physalis species. They are purple in color, sometimes with white deep in the throats. The bell-shaped calyx of sepals at the base of the flower enlarges as the fruit develops, becoming an inflated, lanternlike structure up to 2 centimeters long which contains the berry.

Phylogenetic studies suggest that Quincula is closely related to the small North American genus Chamaesaracha.[3]
References

"Quincula lobata". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2010-03-02.
Calflora: Physalis lobata accessed 5.16.2016.
Deanna, Rocío; Larter, Maximilian D.; Barboza, Gloria E.; Smith, Stacey D. (2019). "Repeated evolution of a morphological novelty: A phylogenetic analysis of the inflated fruiting calyx in the Physalideae tribe (Solanaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 106 (2): 270–279. doi:10.1002/ajb2.1242. PMID 30779447.