Apple of peru (Nicandra physalodes)

Description

Balloon flower ( Nicandra physalodes ) is a species in the family of potato plants originally from Peru . The species is monotypic , ie the only species in the balloon flower species ( Nicandra ). Balloon flower is common as a garden plant in Sweden and is also perplexed. Balloon flower is a one-year herb that can be 1 meter high. The leaves are egg round with lace and toothed edges. The flowers are bell shaped and 5 centimeters or more in diameter. The flower color is bleached and the flowering period is from July through September. Around the fruit is formed an inflated casing. The balloon flower is poisonous. Nicandra physalodes is suspected of having poisonous properties similar to those possessed by certain Physalis species implicated in the poisoning of sheep. Some conflicting evidence in respect of these suspicions has emerged from Australia (where the plant is sometimes known as wild gooseberry), in which the plant has been suspected, on rather vague evidence, of poisoning stock at various times, although a feeding test carried out in New South Wales using a sheep and a goat gave negative results. A case was reported from New South Wales in 1970 in which two crossbred ewes died, apparently as a result of consuming this plant. The animals had been left to graze in a paddock of Wimmera ryegrass heavily infested with Nicandra physalodes plants of around 60 cm in height, such that the Nicandra overtopped the grass. Both ewes died, with symptoms of bloat within 12 hours. At necropsy there were extensive hemorrhages in heart and lungs, but no other apparent abnormalities. The paunches of the ewes were observed to contain large amounts of Nicandra. Nicandra is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family containing the single species Nicandra physalodes. It is known by the common names apple-of-Peru and shoo-fly plant. It is thought originally to have been native to Peru (known elsewhere as an introduced species and sometimes as a weed) and is found nowadays as a ruderal species in tropical, subtropical and, to a lesser extent, temperate areas all over the world. It has also long been cultivated as an ornamental plant for its attractive flowers and curious fruits (the latter sometimes dried for use in floral design) and has been adopted into the traditional medicine of countries far-removed from its original home. “Pet poisonous” – Toxic parts: entire plant esp. seeds, roots