It is cultivated as an ornamental plant for its clusters of dark green round fruits that turn a bright yellow when ripe.

It belongs to the tribe Solaneae, subfamily Solanoideae, under the very large and diverse nightshade family (Solanaceae).

It is sometimes called by other names such as tomatillo (not to be confused with the edible Physalis philadelphica), amatillo, and 黄果龙葵 (Huang guo long kui).

[4] A distinctive feature of twoleaf nightshade is that its leaves grow in pairs from a single bud, hence the name 'twoleaf'.

[4] Twoleaf nightshade is native to Northern and Central America in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

[2] It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in subtropical and tropical parts of the world like Southern France, Italy, and Taiwan.

[4][6] It has escaped cultivation in some areas and become naturalized in Florida and Texas, United States;[5] Java, Indonesia; the Philippines; and the West Indies.

[5] Methods of controlling it in areas where it is unwanted mostly involve being familiar with its growing habits and appearance and uprooting the plants before they bear fruits.