Physalis peruviana an exotic exported fruit, and is favored in breeding and cultivation programs in many countries. "P. peruviana" is closely related to the tomatillo and to the Chinese lantern, also members of the genus "Physalis". As a member of the plant family Solanaceae, it is more distantly related to a large number of edible plants, including tomato, eggplant, potato, and other members of the nightshades. Despite its name, it is not botanically related to gooseberries such as the "Ribes" gooseberry, Indian gooseberry, or Chinese gooseberry. "P. peruviana" is an annual in temperate locations, but perennial in the tropics. As a perennial,
Gooseberry "kruisbes" or the allied German "Krausbeere", or of the earlier forms of the French "groseille". Alternatively, the word has been connected to the Middle High German krus (curl, crisped), in Latin as "grossularia". However, the "Oxford English Dictionary" takes the obvious derivation from "goose" and "berry" as probable because "the grounds on which plants and fruits have received names associating them with animals are so often inexplicable that the inappropriateness in the meaning does not necessarily give good grounds for believing that the word is an etymological corruption". The French for gooseberry is "groseille à maquereau", translated as "mackerel berries",