winter cherry

American  

noun

1. Also called Chinese lantern plant.  a Eurasian ground cherry, Physalis alkekengi, of the nightshade family, bearing fruit enclosed in a showy, orange-red, inflated calyx.

2. the red, berrylike fruit of this plant.

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winter cherry British  

noun

1. a Eurasian solanaceous plant, Physalis alkekengi, cultivated for its ornamental inflated papery orange-red calyx

2. the calyx of this plant

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Etymology

Origin of winter cherry

First recorded in 1540–50

Example Sentences

The undergrowth was bright with the vivid green foliage and brilliant scarlet berries of the winter cherry.

From The Fortunate Isles Life and Travel in Majorca, Minorca and Iviza by Boyd, Mary Stuart