Hi there!
Can anyone tell me the name of the true South African Cape Gooseberry please? There are various species of Physalis and the variety I planted last year just didn’t taste like the ones I used to grow when I lived in Namibia. It grew well in my polytunnel here in UK, but I was so disappointed with the flavour!
Helen
4 replies on “South African Cape Gooseberry”
It grows all over my garden and is very bitter. Far too bitter for fruit salad. I have tried looking up receipes for use, and they all suggest adding masses of sugar! I am happy that the birds like them.
All I know is that “Cape Gooseberry” is not indigenous, its not the Cape of South Africa. I would love to know the name of the actual local variety
I grew seeds from Mahlathini Organics. The grew well, the tasted delicious and produced alot of fruit. https://sites.google.com/site/mahlathiniorganics/Home I have grown and regrown crop from this seed source with very good results.
The name of the “true” SA Gooseberry is PHYSALIS PERUVIANA. It has been widely cultivated for more than 200 years outside its native Peru. Thus it is not really indigenous to SA. It is often confused with the Chinese gooseberry.