ediblelandscapingsc said:Yes they are the same, that's just a name used for marketing them.
here's a ground cherry husk growing:
The husk is solid green and the flowers have yellow on the outside and a purple ring on the inside. The stems are heavily striped. The husks dry to a solid creamy tan.
Here's a golden berry husk growing:
And the flowers:
The flowers have the purple ring on the inside and the purple extends in the crease to the end of the flower. The resulting husk has the purple all the way through it. The plant is more upright and sprawls less, and the stems have a less obvious striped pattern. (That picture above has a ground cherry stem tied out of the way right next to the golden berry stem and you can see the difference.) The leaves are MUCH fuzzier and often look silver in the mornings compared with the ground cherries leaves.
Their tastes are similar, but ground cherries have a more sweet/tart taste while golden berries have a more complex and interesting flavor, though still tart/sweet. I've never had them dried like raisins though. Golden berries can also be called 'cape gooseberries'.
