hōzuki

Description:

Physalis alkekengi (Bladder cherry, Chinese lantern, Japanese lantern, or Winter cherry; Japanese: hōzuki), is a relative of P. peruviana (Cape Gooseberry), easily identifiable by the larger, bright orange to red papery covering over its fruit, which resemble Chinese lanterns. It is native from southern Europe east across southern Asia to Japan. It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 40–60 cm tall, with spirally arranged leaves 6–12 cm long and 4–9 cm broad. The flowers are white, with a five-lobed corolla 10–15 mm across, with an inflated basal calyx which matures into the papery orange fruit covering, 4–5 cm long and broad

Habitat:

------Cultivation =It is a popular ornamental plant, though can be invasive with its wide-spreading root system sending up new shoots some distance from where it was originally planted. In various places around the world, it has escaped cultivation. It has food and medicinal uses ------Cultural significance =In Japan, its seeds are used as part of the Bon Festival as offerings to guide the souls of the deceased. There is also an annual market dedicated to the flower called hōzuki-ichi which occurs every year in Asakusa around Sensō-ji every year on July 9th and 10th. Its balloon-like qualities also made it a contraceptive in early Japan.

Notes:

-----Traditional uses =Dried fruit of Physalis alkekengi is called as Kaknaj in the Unani system of medicine and used as diuretic, antiseptic, liver corrective and sedative. ------Chemical constituents =Like a number of other species in the genus Physalis, it contains a wide variety of physalins. When isolated from the plant, these have antibacterial and leishmanicidal activities in vitro. It also contains caffeic acid ethyl ester, 25,27-dehydro-physalin L, physalin D, and cuneataside E.