A hairless annual with irregularly lobed, toothed, or entire leaves. The `husk` surrounding the fruit strongly 10 angled. Some references state that the yellow flowers often have purple dots at the base of the tube, while others say that there are no basal spots. The SWSS Weed ID Guide photo clearly shows the flowers as white which is at odds with the genus description. A summer annual very similar to Physalis wrightii but with toothed leaves and smaller flowers. The small, berry-like fruit is enclosed in a papery husk. The fruits droop from the leaf axils. The leaves are hairless except for a few short hairs on the veins.
