Long Leaf Ground Cherry

Physalis longifolia var. longifolia

Found in bottomlands, other forests, prairies, woodlands, disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

77

Strong

Native to Mississippi. How scores work Is it native here?

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At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 1 Mississippi county.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 4

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

Prairies and grasslands

Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

14CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS

Genus host records with ranges including MS · Physalis

Chloridea subflexaSubflexus Straw, Groundcherry Sun Moth
Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
Diaphania nitidalisPickleworm Moth
Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
Lineodes fontellaEastern Lineodes
Lineodes integraEggplant Leafroller
Manduca quinquemaculatusFive-Spotted Hawkmoth, Tomato Hornworm
Manduca sextaCarolina Sphinx, Tomatoe Sphinx, Tobacco Hornworm

Show all 14

Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
Spodoptera dolichosSweetpotato Armyworm, Dolichos Armyworm, Large Cotton Armyworm
Striacosta albicostaWestern Bean Cutworm
Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

10BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Physalis

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

3Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Physalis

Colletes latitarsis
Colletes willistoni
Perdita halictoides

Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

5BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Physalis

Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
Tympanuchus phasianellusSharp-tailed Grouse

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: SOLANACEAE

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Mississippi rank	SNR
Global rank	Not available
MS status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source

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Sources