Physalis maritima M. A. Curtis; P. viscosa Linnaeus subsp. maritima (M. A. Curtis) Waterfall; P. viscosa var. maritima (M. A. Curtis) Rydberg

Herbs perennial, rhizomatous, rhizomes deeply buried, stout, pubescent, hairs dendroid-stelliform, to 1 mm. Stems erect to decumbent, branching at most nodes, proximal branches spreading and decumbent, (0.5–)1.5–3(–4) dm. Leaves petiolate; petiole 1/5–1/3 blade; blade broadly elliptic to ovate (2–)3–7(–11) × 1.5–4(–7.5) cm, base rounded, margins entire, rarely irregularly shallowly sinuate. Pedicels 10–25(–30) mm, 15–35(–45) mm in fruit. Flowers: calyx 5–9 mm, lobes 2–4 mm; corolla yellow with 5 dark purple-brown spots, campanulate-rotate, 10–16 mm; anthers yellow, rarely purple-tinged, not twisted after dehiscence, 2.5–3.5 mm. Fruiting calyces loosely enclosing berry, 10-ribbed, 20–35 × 15–25 mm. 2n = 24.

Flowering year-round in areas without frost. Beach dunes, maritime woodlands, inland sandhills, disturbed areas in sand; 0–60 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., Miss., N.C., S.C., Va.

Physalis walteri occurs in inland, sandy areas in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi and on beach dunes from Florida north along the Atlantic Coast to southern Virginia.