[2] A staple of Mexican cuisine, they are eaten raw and cooked in a variety of dishes, particularly salsa verde.

[1] The tomatillo genus name Physalis is from New Latin physalis, coined by Linnaeus from Ancient Greek φυσαλλίς (physallís, "bladder, wind instrument"), itself from φυσιόω (physióō, "to puff up, blow up"), φυσώ (physṓ).

[1][8][9][10] The plant is grown mostly in the Mexican states of Hidalgo and Morelos, and in the highlands of Guatemala[1] where it is known as miltomate.

[1] By the middle of the 20th century, the plant was further exported to India, Australia, South Africa, and Kenya.

[1] The wild tomatillo and related plants are found everywhere in the Americas except in the far north, with the highest diversity in Mexico.

The finding has pushed back the earliest appearance of the Solanaceae plant family and the Physalis genus of which the tomatillo is a part.

Tomatillos are mainly cultivated in outdoor fields in Mexico and Guatemala on a large scale.

Transplants produced indoors need to harden off in a warm, sunny place for a few days before being planted outside.

[15] Direct outdoor seeding can only be done if no frost risk exists and soil temperature is higher than 15 °C (59 °F).

[citation needed] Due to their rapid and branching growth, it is recommended to stake them.

[15] Applications of plastic mulches also help to restrict soil water evaporation and modify microclimate,[12] thereby affecting tomatillo growth and yield.

A plant produces 60 to 200 fruits within a single growing season, with an average yield of about 20 tonnes per hectare (9 short tons per acre).

For salsa verde, harvesting may be done early when the fruit is sour with a light flavor.

[18] Tomatillos have diverse uses in stews, soups, salads, curries, stirfries, baking, cooking with meats, marmalade, and desserts.

[1] Tomatillos are a key ingredient in fresh and cooked Mexican and Central-American green sauces.

The green color and tart flavor are the main culinary contributions of the fruit.

Another characteristic is that they tend to have a varying degree of a sappy, sticky coating, mostly when used on the green side out of the husk.

[21] P. ixocarpa is often confused with P. philadelphica due to morphological similarities and the fact that neither species have had a clear type designation.

[23] They are typically about one meter (3 ft) in height, and can be either compact and upright or prostrate with a wider, less dense canopy.

[citation needed] Flowers come in several colors: white, light green, bright yellow, and sometimes purple.

The husk turns brown, and the fruit can be ripe in several colors, including yellow, green, or even purple.

The freshness and greenness of the husk are quality criteria.Flower types:There are several varieties of tomatillos, with differences in tastes, traits, and ripening colors.

[1][27][28] Some cultivars include Amarylla, Chupon, Gigante, Green Husk, Mexican, Pineapple, Purple de Milpa, Rio Grande Verde, and Yellow.

[25] A study in 2022 using a commercial cultivar found that it was self-compatible and demonstrated incompatibility only in some of the inter-specific hybrid pollinations that were attempted.