Safety note: Unripe fruits and foliage are toxic. Ripe fruit within the inflated husk is edible, but consume only verified ripe specimens.
Longleaf Ground Cherry is a native perennial of prairies, fields, and open disturbed ground across the central and western United States. Its yellow flowers with dark purple-brown centers give way to papery inflated husks enclosing small yellowish berries. It is one of the more widespread native ground cherries and was an important food plant for Plains Indigenous peoples who ate the ripe fruits raw or dried. Ground cherries are closely related to tomatillos and share a similar culinary potential.
Habitat
Prairies, open fields, roadsides, disturbed ground, western plains
Diet
Ripe fruits eaten by ground-feeding birds and small mammals; flowers visited by native bees
How common
Common
Recent Longleaf Ground Cherry sightings near you
Live, research-grade observations from iNaturalist. Allow location to center the map on you.
Spot a Longleaf Ground Cherry? Identify it instantly.
Point Huck at any plant or animal and get an instant ID, rarity, and field notes — building your personal nature collection as you go.
Get Huck — free