Further distribution occurred in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Florida. In the United States, tomatillos have been cultivated since 1863, with one dubbed "jamberry" in 1945 and others with the names "Mayan husk tomato" and "jumbo husk tomato".
The plant is grown mostly in the Mexican states of Hidalgo and Morelos, and in the highlands of Guatemala where it is known as miltomate. Tomatillos are native to Central America and Mexico. 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). In Spanish, it is called tomate de cáscara (husk tomato), tomate de fresadilla (little strawberry tomato), tomate milpero (field tomato), tomate verde (green tomato), tomatillo (Mexico this term means "little tomato" elsewhere), miltomate (Mexico, Guatemala), farolito (little lantern), or simply tomate (in which case the tomato is called jitomate from Nahuatl xitomatl).
Other names are Mexican green tomato and miltomate. Some of these names, however, can also refer to other species in the genus Physalis. The tomatillo (from Nahuatl, tomatl) is also known as husk tomato, Mexican groundcherry, large-flowered tomatillo, or Mexican husk tomato. The specific name philadelphica dates from the 18th century. Tomatillos were domesticated in Mexico before the coming of Europeans, and played an important part in the culture of the Maya and the Aztecs, more important than the tomato. The finding has pushed back the earliest appearance of the Solanaceae plant family of which the tomatillo is one genus. In 2017, scientists reported on their discovery and analysis of a fossil tomatillo found in the Patagonian region of Argentina, dated to 52 million years BP. The wild tomatillo and related plants are found everywhere in the Americas except in the far north, with the highest diversity in Mexico. Green tomatillos ( Physalis philadelphica)