Common name: Shoofly Plant, Apple of Peru • Marathi: पोपटी Popti • Kannada: Bilibudde gida • Tamil: Sudakku thakkali
Botanical name: Nicandra physaloides Family: Solanaceae (Potato family)
Shoo-Fly Plant, is a coarse, erect annual that is native to Peru. The large
alternate leaves reach up to 1 foot long and somewhat resemble Datura
leaves. Plants will reach 3 to 8 feet in height and are about half
as wide. They can become very weedy and have become a noxious weed in the
tropics. All parts of the plant are poisonous and care should be taken in
using in the landscape.
In mid-spring, the plants are adorned with 1½ inch
solitary violet bell-shaped flowers with white centers. After successful
pollination, a globose fruit forms inside the persistent calyx, resembling a
tomatilla.
Shoofly Plant is best propagated from seed.
Identification credit: Rahul Prabhu Khanolkar
| Photographed in Bhyundar
Valley, Uttaranchal. |
|
aturalized