Physalis phuzz at the Science Fair

Tatiana and Abigail have been busy studying the hairs on the outside of Physalis fruiting calyces. These hairs are often sticky (have you ever peeled the husk from tomatillo fruits?), and we hypothesize this stickiness comes from acylsugars, which are better known for their role in tomato leaf defense.  Tatiana and Abigail compared trichome density with acylsugar abundance across fifteen species and found the predicted trend (more hairs, more acylsugars). The pattern was not significant -- but pointing in the right direction. We'll keep working on it!  Congrats to them on their first Regional Science Fair presentation.