Nicandra physalodes aka Apple Of Peru

Nicandra physalodes, also known as apple-of-Peru and shoo-fly plant, is an annual summer-blooming plant from western South America. It belongs to the subfamily Solanoideae of the nightshade family and grows up to 1 meter tall with spreading branches and ovate, mid-green, toothed and waved leaves. The plant is known to be introduced and a ruderal species in tropical, subtropical and temperate areas all over the world, sometimes as a weed. However, it has also been cultivated as an ornamental plant for its attractive flowers and curious fruits, which are sometimes dried for use in floral design. The flowers are bell-shaped and 5 centimeters or more across, pale violet with white throats, and only open for a few hours in the day. The flower becomes lantern-like towards the end of its blooming period. The inflated calyces somewhat resemble those of certain Physalis spp., although in Nicandra, the fruiting calyx is deeply lobed and not a single, undivided, bladder-like structure. The plant is thought to have insect repellent properties, particularly in relation to whitefly. However, it is important to note that it might be poisonous. The seeds have a relatively thick testa (seed coat) and exhibit strong dormancy, which may be broken by a combination of warm and cold stratification, involving temperature fluctuation between 15 and 25 °C. If one wants to get rid of the shoo-fly plant, it is an annual plant and can easily be pulled by hand or hoed up.