Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Solanales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Carolina Horsenettle at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Wild Solanums are generally called nightshades, and are usually poisonous. Learn more from the University of Kentucky herbarium website.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
SYNONYMOUS WITH Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin & Hansen, 2011)
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 165-05-005:
Solanum carolinense FAMILY Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Solanum carolinense
COMMON NAME:
Carolina Horsenettle, Ball-nettle
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_323
)
Gill Newberry gn04_s_carolinense_fruits
April
Fruit a 2-celled berry with many seeds, spherical, smooth turning wrinkled, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow s000524_a
May Greenville County SC
Scattered but sharp prickles and leaves with shallow lobes, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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JK Marlow jkm190722_0105
July Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm100821_447
August Greenville County SC
5-lobed, pale violet to white flowers, ~ 3/4" wide; yellow anthers prominent, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm100821_449
August Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm150808_604
August Watauga County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_solanum_carolinense_2
August
)
Gill Newberry gn09_copy_of_s_caro_2
September
)
Gill Newberry gn09_solanumense_carolin
September
)
Gill Newberry gn09_solanumense_carolin2
September
Calyx tube 2-3mm long, calyx lobes acuminate, 3-6mm long depending on age, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm170914_0471
September Henderson County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm170914_0472
September Henderson County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm170914_0474
September Henderson County NC
Style greenish, glabrous, to 1.5cm long. Stigma dark green, per www.missouriplants.com (Tenaglia).
)
JK Marlow jkm170914_0510
September Henderson County NC
The berries are yellow, 0.4"-0.6" wide, and deadly poisonous, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin & Hansen, 2011)
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 165-05-005:
Solanum carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Solanum carolinense
1408
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Fields, gardens, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia (naturalized well beyond this area)
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems, and often leaves, prickly and/or spiny
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
Leaves have petioles.
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
White
to purple
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed calyx
5-parted rotate corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Yellow
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p160
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p174
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p082
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p392
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p216
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p125
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p206
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p085
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p222
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p338
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p198
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p235
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p441
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p151
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p316
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p189
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