Chinese Lantern

Description:

When I first saw this plant, I had no idea of its name (common or scientific). So, I thought that this might be a difficult one to identify. The only thing I could think to mention, in my online search, was that the fruits reminded me of a Chinese Lantern. You can imagine how surprised I was when I got an immediate "hit" and the "Chinese Lantern Plant" appeared on my screen in http://www.stuartxchange.org/Putokan... Wikipedia gives numerous common names for this plant (but Chinese Lantern is not one of them) and mentions "It is native to the Americas, but is now widely distributed and naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide." Please see my Notes below.

Habitat:

This plant is extremely common in the Philippines and can be seen growing almost everywhere during the rainy season. However, to be more specific, the example in my photos was growing (amongst a plethora of other weeds) on a turf dyke running through a rice field.

Notes:

In the Philippines, this plant seems to have a good many common names, which is to be expected when there are several dialects involved. However, these names are so deep-rooted in the culrure that I think the plant must have been introduced here (as Wiki mentions) several generations ago. The children here, like kids all over the world, have a slightly naughty little game they play with the remnants of a burst balloon (forgive me if I stray a little from the biology). They hold a piece of balloon to their mouths and suck to form a small "blister". Then they twist it to prevent the air from escaping. To surprise their friends, they give the blister a vigorous tap on on the friends forehead which causes it to explode with a little sharp crack! This naughty little game is called "Putokan" and that is one of the local names for this plant because, in the absence of a burst balloon, the children play the same game with the fruits of the plant. I can't be 100% sure, but having discussed this at some length with friends and family, I think that the game was originally played with the fruits, before the advent of the balloon. So, the balloon is, probably, the substitute for the fruit. I could go on to mention another plant which is sometimes mistaken for this one - Physalis minima, called pantug-pantugan in the Cebuano dialect, but that would lead me down another path which would take me too far from the biology. Suffice it to say that I love the ways in which biodiversity blends with and influences cultures all over the world.