Alkekengi officinarum or Chinese Lantern (Physalis alkekengi), is a beautiful and unique perennial plant. Its most distinctive feature is its red-orange fruits, which look like paper lanterns. The plant is about 40 to 60 cm tall and has green, broad leaves. The flowers of the Chinese Lantern are white, and the fruits are edible, small, and round. This plant is very popular for decoration in gardens and can be easily grown from seeds or roots.
Scientific Name: Physalis alkekengi
Some Basic Information about Alkekengi officinarum or Chinese Lantern (Physalis alkekengi)
Habit: Perennial herb, grows 40–60 cm tall, invasive, with spreading underground rhizomes
Root: Fibrous root system
Stem: Erect, green, branched
Leaf: Broad, heart-shaped, spirally arranged, 6–12 cm long, 4–9 cm wide
Inflorescence: Solitary, axillary white flowers
Flower: Small (~1-1.5 cm), white, 5-lobed, petals slightly curved
Calyx: Sepals 5, fused (gamosepalous), inflates to form a papery “lantern” around the fruit
Corolla: Petals 5, fused, white, slightly curved
Androecium: Stamens 5, epipetalous (attached to corolla tube)
Gynoecium: Ovary superior, bicarpellary, syncarpous, unilocular, marginal placentation
Fruit: Berry, red-orange, enclosed in the bladder-like calyx
Floral Formula: Br ⊕ ⚥ K(5) C(5) A5 G(2)
Systematic Position:
Division: Angiospermae
Class: Dicotyledonae
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Physalis/Alkekengi
Species: alkekengi/officinarum
