shule1

@Gardeneer

I could be wrong, but I think the Gigantea version is supposed to have bigger fruits than the normal breed of Chinese Lantern (the plant itself wasn't very large for me, anyhow: it was my smallest ground cherry plant). (It's said to be edible when fully ripe, and high in vitamin C. Whatever the case, even pea sized fruits can potentially have good herbal and nutritional properties, and bigger, tastier fruits might be bred over generations.) I'm not sure if the fruits ever fall off the vine like other ground cherries or not (so, I don't know when it's ripe).

However, the Giant Cape Gooseberry has giant (tall) plants, but the fruits are about normal size for a ground cherry, in my experience.

While I'm on the topic of nutrition, I hear Cape Gooseberries are a plant source of vitamin D (maybe not lots of it, but that's still pretty cool).

It should be noted that Goldberries are said to be the same species as the Cape Gooseberry. I've eaten lots of those dried. They taste kind of like prunes to me.

I think the Chinese Lantern Gigantea I grew in 2016 needs more acclimatization to my area before it can be invasive. It didn't thrive. However, I've heard of native versions of the plant that are said to be quite invasive. I'd like to find some of those and check them out.

I'm not sure mine will grow back next year since all but the container one were smothered by other plants, and the container filled up with water at the end of the season. So, unless it's aquatic or survives severe smothering, I might have to regrow it.

I did check out the roots of my Chinese Lantern Gigantea plants at transplant time. They're pretty cool-looking.