They are part of the plant family Solanaceae, as are tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatillos, etc. Physalis is a genus of plants that include the tomatillos used in Mexican cuisine (Physalis ixocarpa), which I've not grown, but I am growing "Goldenberry" (P. peruviana), which is supposed to be a cultivar of Cape Gooseberry, and Aunt Molly's groundcherry (P. pruinosa) and a couple other groundcherries this year.
Not sure which kind your daughter is growing, but I'm liking these if I let them get really ripe. So far I've just eaten them raw as a snack, but I'm going to try to make jam later on. I'm finding them a bit hard to harvest as they grow very close to the ground and drop the fruits when ripe- not all at once. Maybe I planted them too close together.
I'll got my seeds through trades, but I know that Aunt Molly's is pretty widely available. Thompson & Morgan sells them for sure and I think Pinetree and Johnny's carried them, too.
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