Prairie ground cherry

Herbaceous plant - Forb (flowering herbaceous plant - not a grass)
Prairie ground cherry is an erect perennial herb 25-60 cm high.
Stems of prairie ground cherry are branched, spreading, longitudinally ribbed and have very short hairs.
Prairie ground cherry leaves are light green, alternate but with upper leaves often in opposite pairs, almost hairless on the leaf surface but with short hairs on margins and veins. Leaves are 6 cm long, 4 cm wide (commonly 4-5 cm long and 3 cm wide) with undulating margins.
Prairie ground cherry flowers are yellow, bell-shaped and 2-3 cm in diameter. They have 10-angled calyx and five petals which are fused. These are produced on stalks in axils of upper leaves.
The fruit of prairie ground cherry is an orange coloured globular berry when ripe, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, sticky and enclosed in a bladder-like case of about 2-2.5 cm in diameter.

Prairie ground cherry is spread by cultivation and pieces of root longer than 1.5 cm that are capable of producing new plants.The fruit, while enclosed in its bladder, is dispersed effectively by wind and water, hence the spread along irrigation channels. Without its bladder, the sticky fruit adheres to most objects but this is not a major means of spread because the bladder is generally retained.

The fruit is eaten by birds, foxes and stock, and germination is enhanced after seeds pass through animals. The frequent occurrence of this weed along linear reserves can be linked to bird migration and animal droppings traced to known infestations.

The distribution of hay cut from infested areas is also an important means of the plant's dispersal.