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Chinese lantern-Physalis alkekengi

Chinese lantern plants (Physalis alkekengi) are one of the season's delights.
This unique plant is a popular ornamental plant, appreciated for its bright orange-red papery covering over its fruit, which resemble Chinese lanterns.
Chinese lantern-macro
As a member of the nightshade family, physalis is related to tomatoes, peppers and petunias.
The lanternlike bladders are protecting the forming fruit, which looks like a cherry tomato. Inside this shinny, smooth, flashy fruit are the seeds.
The fruit of the Chinese lantern plant is edible and is used to make delicious jams around the world.
Chinese lantern fruitThe Chinese lantern looking balloon gradually dehydrates, becoming paper thin and breaking down to a delicate, lacy veiling. When the seeds inside are dry, this covering opens and the seeds will be scattered by the wind.
Dehydrated Chinese lantern fruit
Chinese lantern branches and fruitsFlower arrangement with Chinese lanternThe dry branches with the fruits are used to accentuate flower arrangements.
For its aesthetically appealing fruits, the Chinese lantern plant is used as a means of garden decoration, thought it spreads rapidly. Its underground creeping rhizomes must be restricted, when planted in flower bed.
Macro Flowers Saturday badge 3

6 comments:

Lui said...

Maia, that is absolutely gorgeous! Extremely beautiful and useful. Now where do you find it? I want one! Haha!

Indrani said...

Beautiful flower, love the macro very much.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

The ones I see in hotels in Singapore are plain beige, not orange like this. Such a wonderful fruit.

Lui said...

Hi Maia, thanks for offering to send me some seeds but the gardener in our house (my sis Luchie) told me we have no space for it! I was so utterly disappointed. This is getting to be a dilemma. I want cats, a horse and a rose garden but again, no space for it. I think we need to move to a bigger space called Paradise ;-)

Re: Linking back with html or badge takes longer for me to download that I switched to just linking through the host title. I hope that's OK. I'll try to use your badge next time although it make take longer.

Thanks Maia. Hosting is not exactly an easy job I see.

Joanne Olivieri said...

Maia, how beautiful to see this flower. I have never seen them and they do really look like those Chinese lanterns. This is a special treat. I hope I am able to see one in person one of these days. Fantastic photos, as always.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous vivid red color. I can see this plant is also beautiful asan accent when placed in a flower arrangement.

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