Good resource!
Also helpful is INaturalist : Observations · iNaturalist
another older resource is BONAP
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i Love iNaturalist. It lists 28 observations of wild physalis longifolia within 10 miles of my home (only two submitted by me). And it lists one feral tomatillo. No other ground cherries listed neither wild nor cultivated.
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Time to plant more species for additional diversity! 
INaturalist is a fantastic resource! I think better than the outdated BONAP
How do you start physalis seeds? I had one of the wild physalis that I wasn’t sure if it was ripe, but it had fallen and the husk had dried, so I saved the seeds. I tried starting them in a ziplock bag with a wet towel, but so far nothing. I don’t know if it wasn’t ripe enough or if there’s a better method?
Also, when (and if) more ripen and I save the seeds, would anyone be interested in trading? I believe they are wild Physalis longifolia.
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I start physallis seeds in soil in my germination chamber 85 degrees during the day. room temperature at night. Lighted 16 hours per day.
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Yes! Definitely and take photos of your Physalis plants, I can ID the species. If you have longifolia you might have a different variety which would be good for genetics.
Speaking of which I need to ID the guide on Physalis longifolia & Physalis virginiana, I counted the orange-bronzed fruited forms as P. virginiana when they were just very different flavored P. longifolia var. subglabrata.
Is this the same with Tomatillo seeds?
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I use generic seed starting conditions for pretty much all seeds that I start indoors in a germination chamber. 85°F in day, 65°F at night. 16 hours light. Too much fussiness involved in researching preferred starting conditions for hundreds of species. If they can’t work with my equipment and habits, then we might not work out well together.
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I think you have Physalis longifolia var. longifolia, which is the Wild American Perennial Longleaf Groundcherry and the var. longifolifia corresponds to the more western population because it’s anthers look fully yellow to me.
The main key ID feature to distinguish this as P. longifolia are the anthrose hairs (The tiny hairs on the stem all point in 1 direction. Yours barely has any hairs but the flower calxy has a few tiny hairs.
Here is how mine looks like this, it’s a bit more hairy. This is P. longifolia var. subglabrata the eastern phenotype with Orange-Bronze Maple-syrupe flavored berries.
A better photo with flash on for the flower calxy sideways view would 100% confirm it, but I’m 95% confident what you have is Physalis longifolia var. longifolia. Definitely take a picture of the fully ripe berries when they ripen (Usually in Late September or October where I live in Maryland).
I think it would be great to trade seeds from each other’s populations, since we have botanically classified different varieties of Physalis longifolia. Keep looking for other Physalis in your area, what area do you find these? I think it’s a good idea to check for Physalis on INaturalist : Observations · iNaturalist
well this is the whole point of landrace gardening anyways. Altho sometimes dealing with the fussiness for the initial crosses is worth it for valuable genetics, but those better be the most valuable/needed genetics.
Thanks! I’ll see if I can get a better picture. These I found on the edge of my backyard, Coleman County, Texas.
I was actually pretty surprised I found them. I just recently decided I wanted to find one and then I found one, on the edge where it’s very weedy and I was trying to plant a Muscadine. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s hundreds hidden out there in the grasses.
Any tips on where to look? Where they like to grow?
Nice, Surprisingly it looks like pretty much no one on INaturalist found them in your county : Observations · iNaturalist
Actually, since you live in texas it’s possible you might have the 3rd rare variety, Physalis longifolia var. texana. What makes this variety unique is that the Plants are Decumbent (Branches Sprawling/Growing Horizontally or branching at the base with tips bent/turned upward). Anthers are also Yellow like var. longifolia so might be a subservient of the western population). It seems to be Found only in Texas.
If you take a more broader distant photo of the whole plant, I can see if it has that sprawling growth form, you might have that rare unique variety that no one on INaturalist has identified yet, super cool!
There also seem to be 2 other species in the broader region
Smallflower Groundcherry (Physalis cinerascens) & Field Groundcherry (Physalis mollis) both of which are more hairy than Physalis longifolia the one you have. Both are also perennial and no info about how the ripe fruit taste but it’s certainly edible.
I only ever found them in 2-3 locations, Physalis are generalists that are typically found on disturbed soils. I found groundcherries at urban abandoned parking lots next to stores, others around a lake with disturbed soil.
Where you found yours on the edge of backyard seems pretty typical where they may be found. You can also check forrest edges or field edges. If you have any parks around you, check sunny forrest edge habitats. While you’re at it you might find other cool wild edible plants too! Who knows you might have a serendiptious moment while looking for groundcherries and finding something even cooler!
That’s interesting about texana. I had not heard about it and I can’t find any pictures online. The physalis is hidden in the weeds, so it’s hard to get a good picture. I believe there are also several–at least 3–physalis growing there. I had put a few of the fruits in baggies to protect them. Also, like I said, I found them when I was planting a muscadine (which turned out to be dead) so there’s a soda bottle in the ground too.
I walked the fenceline looking for more physalis. I didn’t find any, but I did nearly step on a 5 foot rattlesnake, so I think I’m done looking for the moment.
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In that last photo, it looks like the fruit inside is already yellow, it also looks like it nearly fills the whole papery husk (might yours be a really huge-fruited phenotype for a P. longifolia). Definitely take a closer photo of that and harvest it (sometimes the berry inside matures faster than the papery calyx has time to turn brown/tan & dry).
And yes there are pretty much no photos online for Physalis longifolia var. texana, let alone any fruit photos (who knows maybe var. texana has the bigger fruits?).
It’s hard to see from these weeds but it does look like it’s sprawling on the ground (altho that could be because of competion from grass & weeds).
Yikes 
well at least they rattle their tails to let you know you are too close right?
That rattler didn’t rattle. Thankfully I saw him.
I found another plant nearby without so many weeds. Maybe it will give you a better idea of how it grows.
I also picked the one. I felt some of the other fruits. Some were pea size. This one definitely seemed bigger than average. Not many seeds, wish I hadn’t eaten half of it.
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Nice! It does seem to sprawl. I think your plant matches all of the var. texana traits. Stems are sprawling/decumbent, yellow anthers, nearly hairless leaves & stems (only tiny hairs on flower calyx consistent with all varieties).
I found this key on Physalis longifolia varieties
Same with my local population, most are pea sized but some were bigger. Yours is way more yellow
Eating it is actually how I save my seeds, I simple feel for seeds in my mouth & take them off my tounge to put on a plastic lid. How was their flavor?
The flavor was pretty similar to golden berries I’ve had. Not quite as sweet.
I have another question: I put all the physalis seeds I could find in a pot. There are golden berries, tomatillo, and wild physalis. Hopefully they’ll grow and cross.
However, immature, green physalis is toxic. But tomatillos are also green. If we’re mixing all the genetics, how do we know when it’s ripe? How do we not poison ourselves?
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I’ve had the same question, Indeed unripe Physalis fruits are toxic but not crazy so as there are some reports of Native Americans eating unripe fruits of wild physalis cooked. Personally I’d just eat the ripe fruit as it taste so much better.
For Tomatillo, it’s only a concern for green when ripe tomatillos. Once you’ve seen enough fully ripe green tomatillos, you kind of get a look & feel for fully ripe ones. Fully ripe tomatillos go from hard to having a bit of a squish to them, but usually they are picked when the fruit splits the papery calyx/husk. Even among green when ripe tomatillos, there are often hues of yellow or brown-purple so it ends up looking lime-green when ripe. I also suspect the stronger sour flavor might be from gardeners picking them just slightly early (but that could be a personal preference). To me over ripe green tomatillos have a very delicious non-sweet cactus-pear sour type flavor!
If you are curious what a Tomatillo (P. ixocarpa) x Longleaf Groundcherry (P. longifolia) looks like, this guy made the cross
I haven’t grown any Physalis species yet (despite many times trying . . . 
) , but I’ve heard you can usually assume they’re ripe when they fall from the plant, and they’re unripe if they haven’t.
I don’t know if that’s true for all species. I don’t know if that’s true for tomatillos, for instance.
I have a friend who grew tomatillos one year. She confidently assumed they were all ripe and harvested them all off the plant. She removed the husks, didn’t bother to rinse of the stickiness, and put them in the salsa she was cooking. The salsa tasted absolutely vile. My suspicion is that the fruits weren’t fully ripe yet, but it’s possible her error was in not washing off the sap.
For most plants this is true but Physalis are weird (especially for wild species), so often both unripe & ripe fruit fall off the plant and sometimes ripe fruit still remain attatched to the plant. It’s almost as if there is no relation between fruit falling off & ripeness since the berries continue ripening off the plant on the floor anyways.
Possibly, I know the stickyness doesn’t taste good hence why Tomatillos should always be washed before using. (altho other wild species it’s not required, could just be a thing specific to Tomatillos). As for the unripeness, I feel some chefs use slightly underripe Tomatillos but washed in salsas. I’ve tried an overripe green Tomatillo, majority of the sourness is gone but what remains is a non-sweet prickly cactus pear flavor which is still very enjoyable.